Review- We need to talk about Kevin

The idea that a mother would struggle to love her child is a subject that seems taboo in society, there is still, in some cases, a reluctance in women to accept they may have succumb to Post Natal depression in the time that is supposed to be filled with joy. But even if the mother does grapple with her lack of maternal instincts for the newborn, and some resentment for the new bundle of responsibilities is laid bare, does this lay the foundation for the child to become a monster? Or they destined to align with evil no matter what the environment?

Lynne Ramsay's adaptation of We need to talk about Kevin, from the bestselling book by Lionel Shriver navigates this battlefield of a mother's love for a truly unlovable child. Tilda Swinton plays Eva Khatchadourian, a woman living with, and reliving the events leading up to, and following her son, Kevin's massacre of fellow students at his high school. The film begins with Eva at a low ebb, jobless, sleepwalking through life with a room full of pills and wine bottles. Her house is vandalised with red paint and she is verbally abused daily by the parents of the children that her son killed and injured. Even the respite of a new job is short-lived with the daily vitriol that consumes every thing she does.

Ramsay's film moves from the present to the past, cutting between what was and what is now, scenes appear like longing memories, others jarring with past pain and harsh realities return of the relationship between Eva and her son Kevin and what lead to his terrible actions. From the beginning of his conception it is clear Eva sits ill at ease with pregnancy, removed from her free spirited life as a travel writer, she now appears trapped, uncomfortable in antenatal classes,surrounded by bumps. The birth of Kevin is filmed like a scene from a horror movie with oblique angles and screams of pain and after the labour, Eva seems detached from the experience, unwilling to hold her newborn.

Once home, she struggles to stop Kevin from crying and various attempts to bond with her child are thwarted by his resilience to play along and his stubborn refusal to learn the word 'Mommy'. Only when dad Franklin (a sweet but naively dim-witted John C Reilly) returns home does the child come to life and converse with his father. Though Eva at first voices her discomfort with her role as a mother in her post natal depressive state, at one point Franklin catches Eva telling baby Kevin if he wasn't around she would be happy and living in France, she tries to connect to her child but there is something so inherently wrong with Kevin, something that no amount of withheld nurture could nature.

As Kevin grows up, through his toddler years, where he continually goads Eva with defiant acts, through to becoming a teenager, his disdain for his mother also grows with increasingly chilling behaviour, all the while still undetected by his father, culminating in the most ill advised Christmas present in history. If Shriver's novel had fallen into the wrong hands, this could have been played out as a cheap horror movie, the devil child terrorising his mother, and though there is an element of horror to the novels subject and, in turn the film, it is the heartbreaking context delivered to heartbreaking effect that elevates the film to agonising brilliance.

The film is one of the best examples of right director for the right material, Lynne Ramsay's art house sensibilities perforate the narrative with vivid imagery and dreamlike wounds. The colour red punctuates many of the images from the paint thrown on Eva's house, that she so metaphorically cannot completely clean away, to innards of sandwiches bursting with vibrant jam to the blood that defines Kevin's final sadistic act. The use of sound is particularly effective where subtlty reigns when it needs to and the use of songs have a bittersweet juxtaposition to what is unfolding on screen. If Ramsay is the right director, then Tilda Swinton is the right actress for the film, she is able to say show much with her face, without saying anything at all, quiet devastation etched on her features, she is fearless in her portrayal of Eva, unafraid to be exposed warts and all. Newcomer Ezra Miller, who plays the teenage Kevin, is a mesmerising screen presence, wholly repulsive in his treatment of his mother, yet unable to turn away from his hypnotic snide demeanor.

We need to talk about Kevin is a beautifully afflicting film, a tragedy composed with deft skill of direction, it is a story of suffering, guilt and the fragility of life. For some it will be the best advertisement for being careful with contraception, for others it will be a emotional reminder to cherish your loved ones and be thankful for everything you have.