New Release Review: We Need to Talk About Kevin (Lynne Ramsay, 2011)

We Need to Talk About Kevin opens in Australian cinemas November 17th.

This is going to be one of the more delicate reviews I have written in some time. We Need to Talk About Kevin, the extraordinary new film from acclaimed filmmaker, Lynne Ramsay (Ratcatcher and Morvern Caller), is an experience that benefits from knowing very little prior to viewing. As a result, this review will leave a lot unsaid. But it is my goal to try and convince everyone to check out this densely plotted, powerfully acted and truly shocking film, adapted from the acclaimed 2003 novel by Lionel Shriver.

Shriver herself has praised Ramsay’s film, by claiming it to be a “brilliant adaptation”. I have not read the novel, though it is now on my to-do list, but I think this enhanced the mesmerising experience. The reason being that I think the surprises offered by this film are better served without this prior knowledge. We Need to Talk About Kevin opened to immense critical praise at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, before also taking home Best Film at the recent BFI London Film Festival.

We Need to Talk About Kevin explores the factious relationship between Eva Khatchadourian (Tilda Swinton, I Am Love) and her son Kevin (played at Rocky Duer as an infant, Jasper Newell as a 6-8 year old and Ezra Miller [City Island] as a teenager). The film tracks Eva’s contention with the increasing malevolence of her first-born son, much to the ignorance of her husband, Franklin (John C. Reilly, Magnolia). The result is a stunning (and climactic) act that shatters the lives of the family, and forces Eva to consider her parenting and forever live with the belief that she was responsible for his misguided path.

The film seamlessly blends together, in the style that equates to that of a waking-dream, chapters of Eva’s relationship with Kevin. It is never immediately evident that we have switched to a memory/flashback. These scenes are shot in a similar style to suggest that the nightmare – this constricting emotional bubble that Eva lives in – is still very present. As the mystery is unveiled, understanding never eludes the viewer. For such a dense and complex film, it is impressively coherent.

There is this ever-present paranoiac sense of dread as the horrifying realism of Kevin’s personality, his intuitions and sadistic desires, is revealed. There are subtle details that suggest that Eva has more influence on Kevin than she believes – her lining up of the eggshells, and he his fingernails, and her cruel comments about undesirable people that he proclaims to have adopted. Ramsay does a great job by generating suspense and shock entirely through what she suggests. The screenplay is so taut, that powerful emotions are produced through the allusions to what we don’t see.

One problem I did initially have was accepting that Kevin’s father never caught onto his son’s peculiar behaviours. Franklin believes that Kevin is an innocent little kid who is naturally going to find mischief. Even when he is older, he is blinded by his pride for his son’s skills as an archer. From the perspective of the memories (which are Eva’s), Franklin is absent a lot of time, but when he is at home, Kevin is sweet and behaves normally around his father. Around his mother he is a brooding, conniving little brat. You get the impression there should have been a bit more communication between the parents about Kevin. 

We Need to Talk About Kevin could (and should) find itself amongst Oscar consideration, with potential nominations for Best Picture, Best Director (Ramsay), Best Adapted Screenplay (Ramsay and Rory Stewart Kinnear), Best Actress (Swinton), Best Supporting Actor (Ezra Miller) and Best Editing. Tilda Swinton especially, delivers an exquisite performance, but Ezra Miller, an electric young talent whose work in the otherwise average City Island was impressive, makes this controversial role entirely his own.

Eva evolves throughout the film, and in each of the chapters Swinton brings something different to her character, to represent not only her own aging and growing existential weariness, but also her altered parenting style to accompany Kevin’s growth into a teenager. In the period following the trauma, Eva is forced to suppress her ever-present fear and anxiety and her feelings of guilt and responsibility, as she tries to maintain a confident, optimistic and forward-thinking persona. Her natural frustrations as a parent, her self-contained anger and her evident resentment of her son (despite her very humanitarian attempts to heal the emotional wounds that divide them) will draw empathy and sympathy - especially from audience members who are parents themselves.

It’s an Oscar-worthy portrayal of a strong-willed but emotionally fragile woman who is constantly at odds with one of the most beautiful roles offered to females - motherhood. Her life is a living nightmare; she never catches a break (an evil brat of a son and a husband who seems to be oblivious to her torment) and her harrowing experiences are unimaginable.

We Need to Talk About Kevin is a chilling, hauntingly surreal psychological thriller that displays a unique assuredness in craft and delves into a plethora of themes; including the possibility of the natural existence of pure evil, moral ambiguities about a mother’s responsibility to her child,  the insignificance of the individual in this technology-saturated world and media influenced violence. The controversial content will be sensitive to many viewers, but is remarkably restrained in what it reveals, despite being no less powerful as a result.

Lynne Ramsay has built one of the most unsettling and thought-provoking films of the year. I was in shock following the screening. I had a sick feeling in my stomach and I wandered aimlessly through the city and questioned why anyone would want to have children. It’s the sign of a great film when these sorts of feelings are generated. It’s mesmerizing, deeply affecting, and essential viewing.

My Rating: ★★★★★ (A)