(Almost) Oscar Movie with Abe: We Need to Talk About Kevin

We Need to Talk About Kevin
Directed by Lynne Ramsay
Released January 13, 2012



This film scored Tilda Swinton Golden Globe and SAG nods for Best Actress, but couldn’t make it all the way to Oscar. It’s understandable, since this film is about as dark as it gets, following the run-up to and aftermath of a horrible mass murder committed by one woman’s teenage son and how it affects her life. “We Need to Talk About Kevin” digs deeper than having a child snap because of his unpopularity at school, instead focusing on how, even from a young age, Kevin (Ezra Miller) seemed to have it out for his mother Eva (Swinton). It’s a deeply upsetting, disturbing chronicle presented in such unchronological fashion that it’s hard to believe that Eva was ever happy. Swinton, as always, is excellent, and Miller’s terrifying performance, as well as that of Kevin’s two younger portrayers, Jasper Newell and Rock Duer, are equally strong. The film is less focused, examining tragedy with a lens perhaps too narrow and bleak for its own sake. It’s nonetheless a compelling film, and worth a see for those not prone to nightmares.

B