Fantastic adaptation of a brilliant book that I'd always considered to be unfilmable.
Yes it's a difficult watch, but the intensity of the performances helps you through. The only reason I haven't given it ten is, compared to the book at least, at times it lacks a little subtlety but I can understand why as they needed to attract as wide an audience as possible for what is undoubtedly a tough sell to the mass market.
A good example is the scene of the actual 'incident' itself - while nothing is actually shown in violence terms I still felt it was more powerful without it - by that point everyone should know exactly what happened, without seeing it, and it felt a little like they were pandering to people whose attention had maybe wandered.
It's a minor nitpick though, as on the whole the film is a masterpiece of subtlety as it slowly reveals itself in all it's gut-wrencing horror. Essential viewing for all lovers of film, and even all prospective parents!
There's no twist at the end though!
I wanted to like this movie, but I found myself shouting at the screen so many times that, by the time the story wrapped up, I wasn't rooting for anyone. A dark take on the whole "bad seed" theme, Tilda Swinton plays the frustrated mother to a child with so many problems, it's hard to know where to start. And, while most of his aggression is aimed directly at her, I find it hard to believe that NO ONE else in his life (teachers, neighbors, grandparents, the other people in town, the police) noticed his disturbing behavior as a child. His father is clueless, always siding with the child even as he's defiant in front of the parents. "He's a boy...that's what boys do." Um, no. This kid clearly has psychological issues--anyone can see that.
But the filmmakers choose to ignore that and blame nearly everything on the mother. She tries and tries to connect with her son, and he's nothing but snide and manipulative, to the point where the movie drifts from being a twisted family tale into straight-up horror movie land. Whenever she notices him doing something wrong, he always looks up and her and smiles. ALWAYS, even when she's in the kitchen and he's outside and can't possibly know where she is or what she's thinking. It grows laughable near the end when she realizes what he's doing and looks up and he's staring at her and smiling in the creepiest way. You're reminded it's a movie and not real life, taking you out of the drama. It's all over the top guilt aimed squarely at the one person who's actually trying to fix the problem.
By the way, as a parent and member of the community, I find it hard to believe this kid's behavior would be tolerated. It starts at the beginning and just gets worse--but the mother doesn't seem to realize that her child is different. I can't believe she doesn't talk to other parents to get a sense of what kinds of behaviors are normal rebellion and which ones are clearly sociopathic. And after the "incident," I would have moved away. The only reason she would choose to stay in the same town is for the punishment, blaming herself for what happened. She's found her own personal hell, and she thinks what Kevin did was her fault--and she should pay the price. I found it unbelievable, though. All kids are special and different, but a kid like that needs professional help, not a new bow and arrow. Thanks Dad!
The filmmaker chose to skip around in time, showing events and then what led up to those events. It's an interesting choice but takes away most of the tension because the viewer knows what's coming. There is only one "surprise" moment in the film--but it is seriously creepy and comes out of left field to answer several questions. In the end, they don't "talk about Kevin," and that's the primary issue. Maybe if they had, things would have turned out differently. I liked that the filmmaker chose to show less violence than she could have, but I wonder why--the entire film sets up how evil this child is, but then, in the end, the filmmaker protects us from seeing the result of that evil. Again, it feels like an attempt to excuse or cover up his behavior. The film ends up just being a frustrating exercise in bad parenting, bad judgement, and blaming your kids for ruining the fun, tomato-themed life you had before they came along.
The kid deserved to get his ass beat.
One of the worst things I've ever watched. The story is full of plot holes and the characters are not developed at all. While watching, you keep waiting for something unexpected to happen, but it never does and it just leaves you disappointed.
Expected an atleast semi-realistic portrayal of a vulnerable child descending into madness due to unfortunate circumstances (like an actual school shooter). Instead i get an episode of Goosebumps where a mother gives birth to a literal demon child. Completely ridiculous and unbelievable.
great and intense movie. ezra miller is an amazing actor.
More powerful than the first time watching it back in 2011, definitely a well made film with an all great cast. Ezra Miller needs to take up some villain roles.
This movie makes you hate unconditional love no matter who it comes from. That "paranoid and hysterical" treatment constantly given to female characters in the horror genre creates a greater helplessness in this film, perhaps because it's easy to empathize with frustrated motherhood and family bonds (though they don't resemble your own, I hope), or perhaps with her frustrated attempts to rebuild her life (perfectly performed by Tilda Swinton). Even so, I still want to hit that kid.
It’s slow but it’s a pretty decent psych-thriller
The worst movie i ever watched. Such a waste of time movie. I never felt so cheated in my life. I watched this with high hopes. There is not a single message in this movie. At least they could've show shooting scenes to make up for it but no.
I just don't like this type of story telling. It's painfully slow with lots of weird visual flashbacks, random loud noises, close up of Kevin's eyes because they're empty, and general long silences all for the sake of style. We need to talk about how ridiculous the movie was. We need to talk about how bland the characters are. This could have been fun and made more sense if Kevin had some evil birthmark on his head. Make his environment a trailer park. It could have been called The Bow and Arrow Massacre of Kevin. My point is if you're making trash at least accept it. Don't try and make an arty mess.
Don't get me wrong, I liked the atmosphere it provided, but the editing could be better and the story could benefit from that.
Also, I have my doubts on how psychologicaly accurate the film depicts Kevin, if he would have lived in real life I'm not so sure things would turn out the way they did.
Some people might like the film, but this was not for me.
Painfully slow, depressing and very very hard to watch.
it's VERY intense, but a great movie! tilda swinton and ezra miller are incredible actors.
Well shot, well acted. However I just couldn't buy the story and how weak or blind characters were. It just didn't capture me; even with nice story telling devices it just felt flat.
The 'twist' at the end is not a twist. The better ending would be her just walking away.
This is why I hate kids.
But seriously this is not an easy watch about a serious subject. Tilda Swinton and Ezra Miller are both fantastic. John C. Reilly showing why he is the most underrated actor in Hollywood.
This is a very good film with a great plot twist in the end.
A really nice story, can be a bit creepy, but very intense and enjoyable
they should have talked about kevin a tiny bit more
Slow at the beginning. It gets better in the second half.
Born evil or a product of bad parenting? That's the big question. While it doesn't answer the question directly, it leaves you with a discussion in mind of nature vs nurture, that's for sure. We Need to Talk About Kevin isn't horror but it's absolutely terrifying, disturbing, psychological and it'll make you think twice before having kids of your own. I loved that the movie takes place in two timelines, one before a tragic event and one after. While the outcome becomes totally predictable, I was fascinated in knowing what caused the event and that's pretty much the movie, finding out what caused this and the repercussions it has on Swinton's character. Tilda Swinton was absolutely haunting while Ezra Miller was terrifying he gives me the absolute creeps. I love the discussion the movie leaves you when it finishes but I needed more of Kevin, it just feels incomplete. Although tragic events like that usually end up feeling incomplete as everyone always looks for answers but evil doesn't need a reason to do evil. As quoted: "There is no point, that's the point."
this is a true story of a mother and her fierce struggle to raise her child with aldism. they live in their own world, often incomprehensible
Wow that was a beautifully shot, deeply uncomfortable movie to watch.
Very good film, didn't expect the ending!
The book was FANTASTIC and as much as I love Tilda, the film was a disappointment and far too short.
Kitap uyarlaması olarak biraz eksik ama bu hali ile bile çok çok iyi.
Hectic, and brilliantly acted.
Horrifying
Shout by d2freakVIP 4BlockedParent2015-09-11T12:37:05Z
A difficult movie to watch, makes me scared of ever having kids.