ADFF 2011 Review: We Need To Talk About Kevin

Director Lynne Ramsay, known for the polarizing ‘Morvern Callar’ almost a decade back, returns with her adaptation of Lionel Shriver’s bestseller ‘We Need To Talk About Kevin’ and in return gives us one of the best films of the year – a dark, disturbing and utterly haunting film that will stay with you long after it’s over.

The film follows Eva (Tilda Swinton) and her husband who give birth to their son named Kevin. But just from the outset, Eva realises that Kevin is indifferent and rude to her to the point of evil. We follow the child growing up and realize that there’s a very sinister layer to Kevin that Eva has to tackle which ends up affecting her marriage. But it’s nothing compared to what Kevin is about to do, which will become one of the most brutally evil events in history.

Without spoiling much, there have been variatons of this story in Hollywood before, most notably Gus Van Sant’s high-school set ‘Elephant’ and quite a few real-life versions of the event. But ‘Kevin’ takes a different approach to the film and works extremely well. It does this by using a non-linear narrative structure and tell the story from the point of view of a struggling mother who wants to connect with her son but sees absolute terror inside him. It spans around twenty years from the birth of the child until the child reaches the age of sixteen and fills the timeline with memorable moments that clearly show that something is very wrong with Kevin.

The non-linear narrative makes the storytelling even more interesting. Because we are constantly switching between past and present, we see an emotionally tormented Eva in the present reeling in from the hate the society is giving her for some mysterious event that Kevin did. They splash red paint onto her wall as a symbolic reference to a brutal event. We then flash back to see moments in Kevin’s childhood that thematically fit the scene we saw before it. There’s a lot of visual references to bloodshed and such elements, which is done amazingly and in a disturbing manner. When the film begins, the audience feels disoriented and unable to piece together the timeline of the film but as it goes on, it starts becoming much clearer as hints to something horrific are given in small doses.

Suffice to say that ‘Kevin’ is a very dark and haunting film, possibly one of the most bleak films I’ve ever seen. There’s a constant sense of gloom and dread and the state of Eva in the present and what she’s forced to face is nothing short of depressing. While in the past, we see absolutely unbelievable response of Kevin on simple things and it’s hardly a laughing matter. But therein lies the strength of the movie – it’s strangely attractive and manages to disturb the audience without alienating them. The finale is spooky and eerily directed and the entire audience was gasping as it went on. The film ends on an ambigious note that puts doubt in the audience’s mind on who to sympathize with.

Absolutely amazing acting is another reason why the film works so well. Tilda Swinton gives an award-worthy performance with many shades to her character as we see both her states in the past and present. It’s an extremely hard role to play with a lot of demands and only an actress like Swinton can pull it off the way it is done here. John C. Reilly does a great job in a limited role, but doesn’t seem very comfortable in a movie so dark and bleak. But the highlight of the movie of course is the performance of Ezra Miller as the teenage Kevin who is a revelation in his creepy demonic portrayal of the character. One look at the actor in the role and it speaks a thousand words about the character’s intentions and that’s not an easy thing to pull off. Credit also goes to the young actor who plays the six-year old Kevin and manages to nail the dark portrayal of the character at such a young age.

‘We Need To Talk About Kevin’ is must-see viewing that is bound to get some major awards when the season arrives. It’s dark, haunting, brilliantly directed, expertly structured and written, with A-grade performances. It’s one of the best psychological thrillers to come from Hollywood and hands-down one of the best films of the year.

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