We Need to Talk About Kevin

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We Need to Talk About Kevin

R

2011

1h 51m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

74%

Tomatometer

210 Reviews

78%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

Eva Khatchadourian is a travel writer/publisher who gives up her beloved freedom and Bohemian lifestyle to have a child with her husband, Franklin. Pregnancy does not seem to agree with Eva, but what's worse, when she does give birth to a baby boy named Kevin, she can't seem to bond with him. When Kevin grows from a fussy, demanding toddler into a sociopathic teen, Eva is forced to deal with the aftermath of her son's horrific act.

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Critics Consensus

We Need to Talk About Kevin is a masterful blend of drama and horror, with fantastic performances across the board (Tilda Swinton especially, delivering one of her very best).

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Deborah Ross

The Spectator

08/31/2018

It may be one of those pesky films that is awful to watch but is worth watching all the same. Oh, dear.

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David Thomson

The New Republic

06/19/2013

It becomes a film about her [Swinton] scattered mind. That produces wonders from Swinton, but it ignores the plea in the title. What about Kevin? Kevin deserves so much more attention-indeed, he deserves being played by Tilda Swinton.

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Steven Rea

Philadelphia Inquirer

03/09/2012

2.5/4

Fragmented, dreamlike, a whir of memories and misery, We Need to Talk About Kevin is unsettling, but also somehow unnecessary.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Apr 26

3/4

The low-simmer setting of the project is precisely why it stays with you.

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KT Mahe

For Your Reference Podcast

Feb 11

4/5

Hard to watch but impossible to look away, Ramsay brings her signature unflinching lens to youth and family.

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Oti

For Your Reference Podcast

Feb 11

4/5

Dark and unsettling, We Need to Talk About Kevin keeps you on edge, even if its constant time jumps dilute some of the emotional punch. Still, it’s a gripping, nail-biting watch anchored by brilliant performances.

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Alex F

@AlexFinch 5d

Why are all the negative comments either "ew nonlinear storytelling" or "the mother wasn’t a selfless angel hero and that’s bad?" In this house, we love flawed characters and nonlinear storytelling, and we love suspense over shock value. If you came into this movie to watch a graphic shooting, the Columbine footage is on Internet Archive. If you came into this movie looking for a story, then you’re in luck. Be patient and focus on what’s actually happening and the motifs and why the fk is Kevin wearing too-small clothes all the time, is it really just to reflect poorly on his mother and torture her more or is it a strange display of sexuality, and does he actually need to eat or does he only eat as a method of psychological warfare? God I love this movie.

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Ant W

@Truelinkx2 Jul 5

Extremely boring! The worst case of cinematic blue ba||s I've ever had.

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Nicolas G

@Samuel_Goldmann May 28

awefull to watch. watch it!

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R T

@Pinagong777 May 28

clearly the mother was going through something but it doesnt excuse her actions towards her son, the father was too ignorant on the other hand. give your children love and attention, no harm in asking for help too. just dont be ignorant

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Sina K

@SInak May 22

We Need to Talk About Kevin ultimately fails because it trades genuine psychological depth for unrelenting, manipulative misery. Instead of offering a nuanced look at parental anxiety, the narrative presents a cartoonishly evil villain from birth and pairs him with frustratingly oblivious parents. It is an exhausting slog through pure shock value that confuses relentless bleakness with actual profundity, leaving you feeling more punished than provoked.

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Kristofer K

@kbkaizer May 13

Tilda takes us on a terrifying parenting journey, told in a way that keeps us guessing until the inevitable.

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Lynne Ramsay

Director

Tilda Swinton

Eva

John C. Reilly

Franklin

Ezra Miller

Kevin (Teenager)

Jasper Newell

Kevin (6-8 Years)

Rocky Duer

Kevin (Toddler)

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58%

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Synopsis

Eva Khatchadourian is a travel writer/publisher who gives up her beloved freedom and Bohemian lifestyle to have a child with her husband, Franklin. Pregnancy does not seem to agree with Eva, but what's worse, when she does give birth to a baby boy named Kevin, she can't seem to bond with him. When Kevin grows from a fussy, demanding toddler into a sociopathic teen, Eva is forced to deal with the aftermath of her son's horrific act.

Director: Lynne Ramsay
Producer: Luc Roeg, Jennifer Fox, Robert Salerno
Screenwriter: Lynne Ramsay, Rory Stewart Kinnear
Distributor: Oscilloscope Pictures
Production Co: UK Film Council, BBC Films
Rating: R (Language|Disturbing Violence/Behavior|Some Sexuality)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 9, 2011, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 14, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $487.1K
Runtime: 1h 51m