Horrifying, tragic, and, ultimately, exhausting. Tilda Swinton has been on a rampage of wonderful performances as of late, and she surpasses them all here. The themes aren't hard to gather, but the non-linear story, paired with absolutely gorgeous visuals, give a pretty masterful tale.

No

The technical aspects of it were close to perfect, but the storyline has something that is lacking introspection, despite the obvious attempt to make exactly that the central piece. Also, some of it is considerably far-fetched if you rewind in retrospect after the climax. That doesn't mean the film isn't enjoyable and gut-punching, though. Turn your frame of mind into feeling rather than rationalising and you are good to go. Hopefully.

A solid movie with amazing performances but honestly one of the hardest movies ever to watch. Tilda Swinton had a really hard part to play, being the mother of a child who locks students in a gymnasium and kills several with a bow and arrow. The film shows the child's development from birth to the school attack. The tale is heartbreaking for sure as the young boy terrorizes his mother all through his life, leaving her with nothing after the whole incident. A great movie if you can stomach it.

It will move you, unsettle you, disturb you, and disgust you. And it does all these things unapologetically while avoiding any ham-fisted attempt at rationalization. The non-linear narrative approach is an added stylistic bonus that only enhances the confusion of the mother which is portrayed effortlessly by the always dependable Tilda Swinton.

While a little laboured and "by the numbers", with a lot of 'walking down corridors' and staring, this is still extremely gripping stuff, with mesmerizing performances from all concerned. A film about parental love, complete responsibility and yet the total lack of ability to do anything about a truly evil child. The three "Kevins" were simply superb ... in a horrible sort of way

Floored me.

Watching this gave me a real headache. Oh yeah, the boy is a psychopath, so there we can explain away these highschool killings. Lame and annyoing. If you like to watch little fucktards, this is for you. In that case the actor for little Kevin is the only one worth watching. Other than that, cheap shit.

"What we really need to talk about is the fraudulence of Lynne Ramsay's overripe collage of bright colors, smug pop music, and flimsy characterizations." - Ed Gonzalez

Kind of lost its initially awesome drive and intensity after the first hour. Got kind of weak, then, actually. :/

Miller and Swinton are fantastic.

Parable of the Prodigal Son

The opening 20 minutes or so are remarkable in their elusiveness and highly subjective viewpoint. Once the film settles down and focuses in more on Kevin it tends to get a bit repetitive (albeit still visually arresting and at times intense): not that I think the film insists Kevin is some inherent demon-child - after all, everything we see is from the mother's perspective - but rather that even arguments for the film having more depth than that still leave it feeling rather two-dimensional.

Expertly done on every conceivable level, "We Need to Talk About Kevin" is another surprising adaptation that's a contender for film of the year.

"Haunting" is a very apt adjective to use to describe WNTTAK. WNTTAK's main draw is the characters and their interactions; Swinton and Miller both play their complex characters with great depth, building a fascinatingly damaged relationship. It's far from a perfect film; the overuse of the symbolic red, hokey music decisions, and a few unneeded "shocking" actions by Kevin all hinder the movie. Regardless, this stands as a worthwhile film, and one of the strongest films from the weak 2011 year.

This would be one of my favorite films of 2011 if not for the cop-out ending or Kevin's earlier hammy explanation of his actions. Still, it's rare that something disturbs me to the point of revulsion -- even rarer when it's something in an R-rated movie -- and We Need to Talk About Kevin has such a scene, one in which Ramsay depicts something I can't say I've ever seen or thought about before.

Questionable psychological credibility aside, this is a pretty indisputably virtuosic piece of filmmaking. Of course i would expect nothing less from Ramsay.

It's The Omen meets The Good Son, and the result is unsettling. The only issue is, with the supernatural element absent, how can Kevin's bad behavior as a baby-on-up be explained? The acting is fantastic, and the story telling is well done, so the lone skip in reality is very forgivable.

Genuinely disturbing, and absolutely brilliant. Everything about it is gripping - the use of colour, the use of sound, the use of memory - the story is masterfully told through flashbacks. Swinton is great, as is John C Reilly and all the actors who play Kevin.

Miller and Swinton are highly skilled actors. Apart from that, I'm unsure what to take away from this dark film, even after a second viewing. The lack of a point (other than 'there was no point') tempted me to reject it but making a message movie out of this material would, I realize, have been in poorer taste. Though I feel that Ramsay's art house approach is close to being overdone here, it's visually interesting, and the cumulative effect of discomfort she creates is certainly a powerful one.

There's red in the frame. It symbolizes blood. Do you get it? DO YOU GET IT?!?

Starts off a bit like a psychological horror, & remains threatening & unsettling for its entire runtime. Swinton is extraordinarily brilliant, giving a performance that sees her display an impressive array of emotions & states. Her support cast is great too, with Ramsay's foreboding & stylish direction displaying an effective use of colour. The only thing that holds this movie back from greatness is the editing & structure just starts to unravel in the last quarter. Still highly recommended.

I went into this without knowing anything about what it was about and I think that really paid of. Very chilling and disturbing.

04 Mart 2012 & Kevin'in tek buyuk dusmani ve ayni zamanda vazgecemeyecegi seyin annesi olmasi, anne-ogul iliskisinin bir baska boyutu.. anlatimin yonetmene ozgu olusu ve bu karakterli anlatimin filmin her karesine sinmis olmasi gozumde buyuk bir arti. izlenmeli. http://www.eksisozluk.com/show.asp?id=26589942

Film of the year

Far more experimental with it's sound and images, and all the more better and exciting for it, as Swinton's wonderfully assured performance as grief-overwhelmed Eva recollects on her horrific role as a mother in a superbly edited and creepily scored myriad of memories.

Some points for the discomfort (which I hate in life but LOVE in movies), but this should have been a short. The non-linear structure comes off as a cheap way to prolong the dread and the movie. So many have done this theme so much better.

Awful, cliche filled directing combined with a shitty script makes for a really painful experience. Apparently some children are just born possessed by Satan.