We Need to Talk About Kevin

Lynne Ramsay (2011)

Last Featured: June 6, 2017

Image Credits: Oscilloscope Laboratories

We Need to Talk About Kevin is told through the broken, guilty mind of a survivor. When strange, awful things begin happening in Eva’s world, is she or her son Kevin to blame?


Make no mistake about it, We Need to Talk About Kevin is a horror film. Based on the novel of the same name, it is written with consummate ability and is constructed to challenge us. The film manages to slowly introduce us to a lurking evil. When the terror finally arrives, it strikes skillfully, and its power is amplified by the harrowing reality of today’s headlines.

Eva was not ready to be a mom. She preferred her bohemian life, traveling the world and immersing her senses in everything it had to offer. She lived, she loved, she reveled—and she was good at it. We see her at a tomato festival in Milan, rolling in the blood-red paste. 

But a child does come. And Eva does try. Hateful at birth and innately able to crawl under his mom’s skin, Kevin refines this chosen skill to righteous cruelty. Meanwhile, he appears normal to the rest of the world, fixating on his archery set and learning to steady his aim. 

We Need to Talk About Kevin is told through the broken, guilty mind of a survivor. Its story unfolds in chaos, merging past and present while calling upon our own reality, effectively reminding us of the devastating evils present in our world today. When the movie finally punches, it punches hard—and right in the gut.