We Need to Talk About Kevin is a harrowing film.  From the opening moments, featuring a crowd writhing in a thick red substance, Ramsey succeeds in creating a sense of discomfort which permeates throughout the entire film.  With sold out gala screenings at the London Film Festival, a place among the official selection at Cannes and a plethora of rave reviews pre-empting its general release We Need To Talk About Kevin is a film that can truly be described as highly anticipated and, in this reviewer’s eyes at least, it lives up to that expectation.

The film, an adaption of Lionel Shriver’s 2003 novel by the same name, focuses on the question of responsibility with regards to a school shooting, considered through flashbacks to events prior to the massacre and the consequences of said massacre for those left behind.  In this respect, We Need to Talk About Kevin is quite unique among films of the same genre all events are presented in retrospect from the perspective of a single character, creating a great deal of ambiguity, as it is never clear whether these flashbacks are accurate or rather the product of a mother, Eva (Tilda Swinton), attempting to either to detach herself from the crime, remembering her son as a monster, or fostering her own guilt by reliving memories of creating such a monster.  Indeed, it seems quite possible that one could see this film with a friend and come out with completely different impressions about Eva’s culpability for her son’s murders.

Tilda Swinton’s performance is nothing short of spectacular, presenting with equal skill an ambitious, resentful and, arguably, neglectful mother and the shell of such a woman broken by shame and fear, who is surprised by even the most peripheral of acceptance.  Indeed, one of the most remarkable aspects of Swinton’s performance is that she seems to embody both Eva characters effortlessly; at one moment portraying a woman who is so resented by the world and consumed by guilt and fear that she attempts to hide from those she once knew, accepting all forms of abuse, and then switching to an aggressive mother, clearly suffering from post-natal depression and at odds with a husband (John C. Reilly) who fails to recognise this. It seems worth noting at this point that John C. Reilly, the father who remains oblivious to Kevin’s (Erza Miller) apparent abnormalities and is thus exasperated and worried by Eva’s attitude towards him, Erza Miller, and the younger incarnations of Kevin all deliver powerful performances, completing an altogether strong cast.

Ramsey’s adaption is truly brilliant; she has effectively translated themes questioning the suburban family ideal and the responsibility of parents for their child’s action, while also creating a nicely shot film with a distinctive colour pallet, which avoids feeling forced despite the serious and potentially controversial subject matter. Moreover, the addition of simple changes in hair style gives a visual indicator which should enable those unfamiliar with the book to follow the storyline, unhindered by the frequent use of flashbacks. Furthermore, as a note to the squeamish out there, despite a palpable sense of fear and underlying violence, Ramsey avoids the actual depiction of violence, instead focusing on the performance aspect of it, in a manner which highly reminiscent of Michael Haneke’s Funny Games (1997) and The White Ribbon (2009) which might be seen as a forerunners to this film with regards to theme, although Ramsey certainly presents a more visually striking piece than the former and, arguably, a more emotionally involving and accessible film than either of Haneke’s films.

The only aspect of Ramsey’s film which one might question is the soundtrack, the use of songs such as ‘Everyday’ by Buddy Holly, as many people will have noticed in the trailer, was fantastic but every once in a while strange country choices seemed slightly jarring, especially as the supposed choice of a woman who resents having to leave sophisticated city life. Nevertheless, this is a minor complaint. We Need to Talk About Kevin is a brilliant film that left this viewer feeling positively chilled, and it seems as if Lynne Ramsey is a director to watch. Indeed, as Mark Kermode noted, one can’t help but wonder what Lynne Ramsay would have done with the Lovely Bones, had she not lost the chance to adapt it to the power house team of Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson.