Review of We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) by Luis G — 24 Jul 2012

We need to talk about Kevin is a horror story at heart and it plays through the eyes of the real victim being Tilda Swinton as Kevin's mother Eva. I really enjoyed this film and I thought that its best feature was the use of editing and camera work to create a really un-settling atomosphere which is evokes a feeling of dread! I always believe that if a film can make you feel a certain emotion even if it a sense of uncomfortableness, then it has succeded in its role as a movie.

I think Tilda's acting performance is really the essential link to the film, her character is such a weak character to play and she did it to absolute perfection, where you'd want to go into the screen and give her a shake and say "pull yourself together"! John C.

reily also plays quite an important role as he is again at a quite understandable position throughout the film and he seems to play quite a good father as well. Ezra Millar and Jasper Newell play the character of Kevin to perfection and I personally think that this film is a prime example of how acting is not only a major thing to get right in a film but it is also important that actors performance can easy relate to each other and compliment each other.

I thought the music in this film was very cleverly chosen, I mean "Washington Phillips - Mother's Last Word To Her Son" is so apropriate but very sweetly done and it is (either by coincidence or very clever writing) seemless within the scenes used in the film.

That being a simple example, however the rest of the original music from Jonny Greenwood of the Radiohead fame, is also a triumph in building and falling of tension and un-ease. He also a did a fantastic job in There will be blood and again great at building an atmosphere in a cineamatic environment.

I guess what doesn't make it a perfect film is the fact that it doesn't really end for Tilda Swinton, not that I don't like the whole guessing game type of ending. But it felt like it needed an extra question or extra motive at the end to say where she could possibly end up.

Even that was the option of going back to her travelling routes or staying put, there is nothing to suggest anything and ive seen this film twice through. Overall, A nice flim and I would reccomend to anyone its a great british film to have as part of a modern catalogue of British movies.