Another movie which unmistakably reeks of Kubrick, Lynne Ramsay's sublime adaptation of Lionel Shriver's acclaimed novel is one of the best movies ever made about being a parent. While the central scenario is extreme, revolving around teenager Kevin's (Ezra Miller) murderous rampage at a school, the focal point is how his mother Eva (Tilda Swinton) failed to bond with her child, and how this might have (or might not have) led to his outburst. What really makes the film work is that it refuses to easily assign blame by way of pop psychology: no clear answer is ever given for Kevin's actions, because true to life, there are no all-catch solutions. Sometimes people do bad things...just because. Swinton gives an Oscar-worthy performance here that was sadly ignored by the Academy (probably because of the difficult subject matter) of a worn-out mother at her wits' end, and Miller wasn't far behind, delivering one of the creepiest child roles in cinema history. Plus, the kids who briefly play the younger versions of Kevin do a mind-bogglingly brilliant job at evoking their own personal brands of horror, too. Yes, Ramsay makes too much use of the colour red (red = blood, it's pretty obvious), but other than that, We Need to Talk About Kevin is a masterful drama which proves satisfying precisely because it isn't satisfying, in that it won't take the easy way out with a concrete explanation for the act.
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
