We Need to Talk About Kevin: Moving film

Written by Mark Schumann, Father of Three
Thursday, 26 January 2012 14:06

Each week, the Reel Dad checks the nutritional value of a movie — new or classic — to help parents choose what to watch. This week’s pick is a new film starring Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin.

As parents, our hopes for our children begin with their safety, continue to their happiness and fulfillment, and ultimately land in the comfort of knowing that they have acquired enough common sense to get through most days and challenges with clear and cool heads.

But it doesn’t always work out that way. And too many times, parents who have filled days for their children with good intentions find themselves having to deal with situations they could never imagine.

We Need to Talk About Kevin explores a horror beyond comprehension. What if a child grows into a killer who can, without any sense of remorse, go on a killing spree at a high school? How, as a parent, could you cope with such a tragedy? How would you relive the years to consider how you contributed or what you could have to prevent this? How can you move on with your own life when your immediate world around you holds you accountable for what your child has done?

There are no easy answers in this film, no happy endings cooked in the Hollywood kitchen. Nor does the film paint its characters in black and white. These parents, while well intentioned, may not have always made the right choices about how to deal with their children, certainly once they recognized the challenges. But along the way something simply went wrong. And the search for explanations must begin at home.

In a heartbreaking performance, Tilda Swinton plays the mother who may not have always been the most connected mother but, as her children age, becomes a most concerned parent. As she does in every performance, Swinton brings a haunting authenticity to every nuance and gesture; she brilliantly underplays each scene to pull the audience into what is traveling in her mind. She effectively conveys how the character changes even though the film tells the story out of sequence. 

To a lesser actress, such a structural issue might undermine the work; for Swinton the challenge seems to inspire her to do more.  Her performance fills in some of the narrative gaps permitted in Lynne Ramsay’s adaptation of the novel. We never really know, in the film, how important career was to this woman or the importance of travel to her sense of self. Swinton, while deprived of these details in the script, manages to convey the sense of character evolution in every moment she fills the screen.

As the son who can kill without thought, Ezra Miller is brutal, hateful, frustrating and totally authentic. His work is so subtle, and his intensity so engaging, that he grounds the film in a terror that is all too possible. Completing this trio of strong performances is John C. Reilly who, once again, is accessible and believable as the father the child chooses to follow.

We Need to Talk About Kevin is not a comfortable escape at the movies. It is a much-too-real reminder to any parent that, as much as we try to do the right thing, bad things can happen; and no matter how much we may love our children, we simply can’t control everything they choose to do.

Film Nutritional Value

We Need to Talk About Kevin

* Content: High. We Need to Talk About Kevin asks many questions that, as parents, we may find challenging to answer, but which we must begin to understand.

* Entertainment: Medium. The irregular narrative can make the film difficult to follow at times although Swinton’s performance is always compelling.

* Message: High. We are reminded, as parents, of the commitment we make when children enter our lives, and how our “jobs” are never done.

* Relevance: High. Any opportunity to think, as parents, of how we influence and impact our children is always relevant.

* Opportunity for Dialogue: High. After you share this film, talk with your children about how the families may share accountability for each other’s behavior.

We Need to Talk About Kevin runs 112 minutes and is rated R.

4 Popcorn Buckets

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