We Need To Talk About Kevin Review

Directed: Lynne Ramsay

Released: January 13, 2012

Rating: R

Overall Rating: 8/10

Eva Khatchadourian is a writer based in New York City. Eva meets a man named Franklin, with who she eventually falls deeply in love with. So deeply in love to the point where Eva uprooted her entire life to start a family with this man after she became pregnant. Little did she know, that would change her life forever, and not in a good way.

The movie started very oddly. There was no context as to what was happening until a little later on. Although, it did keep me guessing as to what was going on and what could happen. Once the first couple of scenes had passed I had realized that it was switching from past to present. The past representing flashbacks from Eva's point of view. After Kevin, Eva's firstborn child, was born you could automatically see symptoms of post-partum depression in Eva. Franklin thought it would be a good idea to move out of the city and into a more rural and secluded area, where Kevin would be able to grow up with a yard. Eva was against the idea because she loved New York and that was where she wanted to stay. Eva did get overruled and they ended up moving to a more rural area.

At this point in the movie, Kevin was a toddler. You can see once the family arrives at their new home Eva is sitting on the floor with Kevin, no words are exchanged just her and Kevin on the floor looking at each other. This may not seem normal to most, but it was very normal for Kevin and his mother. Ever since the day, Kevin was born you could see the astoundingly negative relationship between him and his mother. Throughout the movie, Kevin continually torments his mother for no apparent reason besides the fact he enjoys it. When Eva tries to bring to light what is going on with her son no one believes her because he is a child and is automatically placed as the victim, even if he's the true perpetrator.

Throughout Kevin's childhood, you can see the disturbance of him. His tendencies could be considered very off and different from a "normal" child. Quite frankly, you can see the trends of sociopathy building as he grows older. What really got to me was how Eva was the only one who could truly notice something was wrong with Kevin.

Everything started to add up about an hour and a half into the movie. You see the climax, the breaking point of everything where the lights just turn on in your brain and everything is adding up, like the last piece to a puzzle. You can finally see why people think the way they do about Eva. The most disturbing scene of the whole movie was the backyard scene at night. You can truly see the psychosis of Kevin at that point. What really took me by surprise is that Eva still tried to build a relationship with her son even after everything he put her through. In the end, I think it truly sucked that Eva gave up her entire life even though she didn't want to. Although, I do think it gave up a really good lesson that mothers do so much for their family and children even if it is something that isn't in their personal best interest.

The actors and actresses did an amazing job with their performance. Although, at first I felt as though John C. Reilly was not the best option for Franklin due to the fact that he normally only acts in happier more upbeat movies and this was far from that. But, at the end of it all, even though he played a vital but small role he did an amazing job at persuading his character to be the fun yet serious, relaxed dad. The performance from Tilda Swinton and Ezra Miller were horrifyingly real, yet so unique which made this film a lot of what it is in my opinion.

Overall, I would rate this film an 8/10 because it did not take a place on my top favorites but I still loved the acting, storyline, and movie altogether. I found it very interesting in the fact that none of it was adding up until the end so it kept me hooked the whole time. I would one hundred percent recommend this movie for anyone besides children because there are references to sex and some graphic scenes.