As a portrait of a deteriorating state of mind, "We Need to Talk About Kevin" is a masterful film. Word Count: 2350. In my opinion, the movie clearly shows a mother who never wanted to have a kid but did, and hated him for it. Read full review. Tilda Swinton is the star of We Need to Talk About Kevin, and her performance is so complex and volcanic and transfixing that all of the film's flaws melt away. Then as another evidence of how fucked up and spiteful she is, she chooses to have another kid. Kevin's mother struggles to love her strange child, despite the increasingly dangerous things he says and does as he grows up. We Need to Talk About Kevin Summary. But Kevin is just getting started, and … We Need to Talk About Kevin is a masterful blend of drama and horror, with fantastic performances across the board (Tilda Swinton especially, delivering one of her very best). It's a genius film. [–][deleted] 1 point2 points3 points 8 years ago (0 children). I guess it's a nature and nurture thing. Loved the film overall although I disliked its pretentiousness. Lynne Ramsay’s 2011 rendition of ‘We Need To Talk About Kevin’ is an eerie homage to the Lionel Shriver’s 2003 bestselling thriller novel. The first time I watched it with my family, and we all loved it but had different reactions to what was happening. She is so brilliant anyway, and the way she portrayed that character was really complex, which I loved. A huge part of Swinton's character is her guilt, and how she's looking for signs of Kevin's abnormality. Thoughts on it. [–][deleted] 10 points11 points12 points 8 years ago (0 children), My favorite scene was when the mom was explaining to Keven he would have a sister, and that he would get used to having her around. we need to talk about kevin ending explained ... For more than a decade /R/HORROR has been reddit.com's gateway to all things Horror: from movies & TV, to books & games. ***(Minor) spoiler warning*** I loved We Need to Talk about Kevin and yes, it produces anguish, despair and sometimes just a little disbelief, given that Kevin is so disturbed you have to ask a ‘real-world’ question about a medical/psychiatric assessment of Kevin. It's something I didn't catch the first time around. Jake Martin, visit our special Oscars season blog, Movie Minister.. If you study her expression very closely, the way she reacts, you'll see the slightest hint of a smile. It was sort of plodding along before that, not saying much, not really going anywhere, etc. Before the film opens, the character referred to in the title of Lynne Ramsay’s We Need to Talk About Kevin, at the age of 15, has massacred a number of his fellow schoolmates. [–]shakha 1 point2 points3 points 8 years ago (0 children). That it was sort of a level of self reflection that perhaps he previously didn't have, and may lead to his sociopathic condition improving in the future. [–]electric33l 0 points1 point2 points 8 years ago (0 children), [–]gmac0692[S] 2 points3 points4 points 8 years ago (0 children). [–]missmediajunkie 8 points9 points10 points 8 years ago (1 child). If all else remains equal, we should choose what gives us purpose, hope and meaning. She exits the prison into a brilliant, pure, white light. Kevin hated his middleclass privilege, his mothers bourgeoisie attitude, the tedium of having whatever wants. Don't get me wrong, it was great, and I loved it. It really showed how she couldn't bring her self to face her debilitating relationship with her son, even though she could turn it around if she did. There are all these little ambiguities in the film, if you pay close attention, that suggest she may be building Kevin up to be more of an obvious monster than he was. Has anyone here seen "We Need to Talk about Kevin"? His pattern changed, he showed some regret for his actions. "We Need to Talk About Kevin" is a very accomplished novel about a woman who gave birth to one of America's most infamous high school killers. A clean slate, a fresh start. [–]Grytpype-Thynne 0 points1 point2 points 8 years ago (0 children). Because of that, she eventually develops some sympathy for him for the first time in her life. When faced with her sympathy, he realizes he fucked up his life for no reason. It's not told in chronological order, as it also depicts the mother's life after the crime is done. My brother was really troubled by the way she responded to her kid, and thought it was awful when she was talking to him like "Mommy was happy before little Kevin came along, you know that?" Both of them were under the impression that her actions as a mother eventually caused him to go on a killing rampage. Today we focus on the psychology of this psychological thriller. I thought it was a masterfully dark, almost scary film about the battle between nature and nurture within the first 15 years of a troubled child who ends up committing a horrible crime. I really wanted to reach into the film, strangle the hell out of that kid. Get an ad-free experience with special benefits, and directly support Reddit. In a sadistic way, Kevin fulfils his mother's fantasies. The result was brilliant. I'm sorry, but that's the only way that I can put it. To prove to her son that he is the problem and that she would love a kid that wasn't him. So how do people watch all this and then sympathize with her? I though there was no way possible to adapt the book into the film. [–][deleted] 1 point2 points3 points 8 years ago (4 children). We Need To Talk About Kevin- Opening Scene Analysis. I only questioned that because I've been reading about serial killers a lot lately, and many of them seem to have that kind of relationship with their mothers early on, so that made me wonder about that. His face had lost all that arrogance that made me want to smack him so much throughout the rest of the movie. I would slap him across his face if I saw him. There are some great comments on this thread about the mum being an unreliable narrator and I want to add to that with something interesting. By the way, you should check out her other two films (Ratcatcher and Morvern Callar); they're equally if not more terrific. I call shenanigans! His reply: "You don't want to kill your audience." I had been indifferent when it came to Lynne Ramsay (I HATE Morvern Callar), but this film made me realize that she is, in fact, the real deal. erm SPOILERS the way the book is written you really get into the mind of Kevin's mom, the analysis of the incidents that take place (drawing all over her room, burning little girl's eyes out) show you that Kevin is the way he is not just because of his apparent psychopathy but because she secretly resents and hates him. One of these things is not like the other. [–]goobysalad 1 point2 points3 points 8 years ago (0 children). By Lisa Gee. Told through letters written by Kevin's mother Eva, to her former husband Franklin, Eva's letters are a form of therapy, and an attempt to gain an understanding of her son's innate hatred for the world. This, too, built up the kid's resentment to his family. Despite We Need to Talk About Kevin never feeling subtle, particularly in regards to its unambiguous red aesthetic, in terms of costume the overall look is perfect. One of these things just doesn't belong. Lionel Shriver's We Need To Talk About Kevin is an elegant exploration of guilt, says Zoë Green Zoë Green Sat 26 Feb 2005 20.05 EST First published on Sat 26 Feb 2005 20.05 EST I've watched a good few more times since. And when she tries to bond she talks shit about other people (although that part was a bit funny.) Costume compliments the visual expression Lynne Ramsey has chosen to adopt. "The movie is good, but doesn't capture the experience of reading the book. [–]EternalRocksBeneath 2 points3 points4 points 8 years ago (0 children). We Need To Talk About Kevin is a searing and complex look at the reasons couples decide to have children, the parent-child relationship, marriage, and the limits of love and loyalty. We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) - who is the fucked up one here? John C. Reilly was totally miscast. The way I interpreted that was that she felt Kevin finally questioned himself. She and Kevin both share an absolute hatred of all things mundane. and join one of thousands of communities. [–][deleted] 0 points1 point2 points 8 years ago (0 children). Threads must point discussion in a specific direction. I was sweating with anticipation when this film was announced. We Need to Talk About Kevin feels like a daring art installation, filled with the obvious color red as a metaphor. Is he a cartoonishly evil kid or is Tilda Swinton an unreliable narrator? He (Kevin) doesn't develop any kind of attachment to anyone and the only kind of attachment that is shown is the one to his bow. Tilda Swinton is an incredible actress for pulling that off. I loved it! i definitely need to go back and watch this film again! But I hated it. In April 1999, Drew Barrymore had Never Been Kissed, Cher told everyone to "Believe," and two kids shot up a high school in Columbine, Colorado. [–]mrchocolateguy 9 points10 points11 points 8 years ago (4 children). So why does she have another one now? I still do feel really awful for her, though. So it's even more torture for her to have her own son commit one. Swinton told me of a line in the script that wasn't used, wisely, I believe. I hate that character so much, I hate him for playing the role. In my opinion it is showing the story of someone who truly does not want to be alive purely because he never asked to be brought into this world. At the very least, I wanted to shake the hell out of them. On the other hand, many other people have kind of distant relationships with their mothers, and they don't go off on a killing spree. It might not be her fault after all. I'm starting this topic because I recently got into a discussion about this on another sub and pretty much no one agrees with my interpretation of the movie at all, which is that mom is a psychopath. [–][deleted] 7 points8 points9 points 8 years ago (0 children). We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) - who is the fucked up one here. I absolutely love this film. She had the intelligence and education to involve therapists to fix their issues, but she rather decided to keep playing games and try to turn his own father against him. He was apparently not stupid and accepted that. I'm starting this topic because I recently got into a discussion about this on another sub and pretty much no one agrees with my interpretation of the movie at all, which is that mom is a psychopath. This was a really great movie. Thursday 02 April 2009 23:40. comments. You got used to me...". Overall, a haunting character study. 70. Every sight is a work of art and so is every sound. This film is highly underrated. In this film we see mother Eva and her struggles with her sociopathic son Kevin. It broke my heart when they would show flashbacks of her life before she had that kid, where she was travelling and happy, loving her newly married life, and then she ends up becoming nothing other than a prisoner in a life she didn't really want to begin with, and that life turns into a nightmare. There is a 180 character minimum for top-level comments. REDDIT and the ALIEN Logo are registered trademarks of reddit inc. π Rendered by PID 16297 on r2-app-061122a8e59027707 at 2021-02-23 12:30:30.342562+00:00 running 81a1eda country code: US. I'm sure many parents resent the sacrifices they've had to make for their kids, but that doesn't make every kid a killer. The film posits Eva’s point of view, who relays the history of her relationship with her firstborn, and … Has anyone here seen "We Need to Talk about Kevin"? I highly recommend the book, not to say I was dissapointed with the film version, it just couldn't go near as in depth on the evolution of a psychopath like the book did. [–]EternalRocksBeneath 1 point2 points3 points 8 years ago (1 child). Most of the characters in most horror movies...especially the two girls in the original "Last House on the Left". You all get upvotes :] excellent commentaries and now I know that I must read the book! for whatever reason, it never occurred to me to consider the fact that swinton's character was the storyteller and that things might not have been as they seemed. After I saw it the first time it literally haunted me. [–]electric33l 0 points1 point2 points 8 years ago (5 children). (Week of (February 21, 2021). I think that is exactly the point of the movie, to manipulate people's reality through her pov even when it's pretty obvious she is mental, the same way she manipulated her son's reality. Tilda Swinton was so unfairly snubbed by the Oscars. Eva Katchadourian, his mother, gradually tells the story of his life in a series of letters – written in elegant, discursive prose – to her now absent husband, Franklin. The ambiguity of the mother and son's relationship is also much more out front, it brings much more empathy to the character of Kevin, instead of the near impenetrable portrait Ezra Miller painted. He was going into the "big" prison, and he had to know that his life was about to get even worse. © 2021 reddit inc. All rights reserved. So, Mom's to blame? Then he finally takes the game far enough and kills people just to hurt her, while also proving her right. [–][deleted] 5 points6 points7 points 8 years ago (1 child). Life has ruined her chances at free fun and she hates the world. He wanted a hard life. We should choose whatever helps us to live the best lives we can live. However, I felt the film was still perfectly casted, and the stark cinematography was very appropriate for the subject matter, in particular I loved how Ramsay captured Kevin's triumph in the gym, the image was in my mind for a good week. That's the climax of her entire development as a character, in my opinion. We Need to Talk About Kevin focuses on a school massacre orchestrated by a 15-year-old Kevin, who harbored a troubled psyche ever since he was a child. The use of color was breathtaking. (Click for video essays). The story revolves around a family of four, but the main focus is on the relationship between the mother (Eva, played by Tilda Swinton) and the son (Kevin, played by Rock River, Jasper Newell and Ezra Miller).. Kevin’s killings, meanwhile, are the absent, invisible center of Ramsay’s film. disastrous results. With Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller, Jasper Newell. [–]makingbacon 4 points5 points6 points 8 years ago (7 children). John C Riley also stars as the sensitive and goofy husband who often takes the son's side over his wife in various issues. This review of the film was originally published on December 22, 2011. My favourite movie of 2011. Ultimately, the film does not give as much insight on Kevin as the book, instead relying solely on Eva's perspective of memories while the book allows a much more complete picture of all the flashbacks, most likely pieced together by Eva's investigation of Kevin's actions, however I felt this was still a very interesting isolated character study and worked well for the medium. But now, her son isn't so sure. He seemed so broken, as if he had discovered that he didn't have life all figured out like he thought he did (if that makes sense?). The movie goes back and forth in time to show different points in Eva’s life. Whereas I felt really really sorry for her and could understand where she was coming from. [–]cranne 1 point2 points3 points 8 years ago (0 children). 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