We need to talk about Kevin

In 2011, Scottish filmmaker Lynne Ramsay surprised with a disturbing, tragic story that was not without controversy.. A story in which myths about motherhood are blurred, in which the innate nature of evil is questioned and that will shake more than one viewer. The film is none other than We need to talk about Kevinthe adaptation of the novel of the same name by Lionel Shriver.

Starring an incredible Tilda Swinton in the role of Eva and an uncomfortable Ezra Miller as Kevin, the film immerses us in a fragmented narrative, with a fairly predictable, but effective intrigue.

Motherhood often appears idealized in cinema; The role of mothers is elevated to unsuspected heights. However, We need to talk about Kevin It presents us with a different vision, a nightmare, the worst for a mother: facing the evil of her son.

Eva, a woman who may not have considered motherhood at first, must face a difficult situation. She will be forced to try to understand and help a son who has been conflictive since his first steps into the world and who will end up triggering the worst of tragedies. We need to talk about Kevin It is a film that addresses a taboo subject, that explores the worst of horrors.

Blood, entrails, viscera

From the beginning of the film, we observe an omnipresent image of the color red. A color that we inevitably link to the tragic, to blood, to viscera. Eva is bathed in red, enraptured by the fun at a Spanish festival, the Tomatina de Buñol. Young and carefree, the protagonist lets herself be carried away by the moment, by that bath in tomatoes that seem to anticipate what will later be blood.

It will not be difficult for the viewer to find the references to the red, a color that acts as a common thread throughout the film, taking on multiple forms: tomato in different versions (Tomatina, ketchup), red paint or even jam, to end up being what we all feared: blood.

We are not looking at a red that evokes passion, but rather viscera. In this sense, gestures and small details become especially important. We observe various close-ups of hands, gnawed nails and chewing mouths. These are unpleasant, uncomfortable shots, despite showing everyday actions.

They are nothing more than games with our mind that associates the scenes with the perverse.. Without going any further, we see in a food certain similarities with the eye that the protagonist’s sister has lost or, as we have anticipated, we find in a simple sandwich of jam connotations that evoke catastrophe. In some way, through these images, we anticipate the tragedy, since the viewer is in a constant state of alert.

From his birth and childhood, Kevin shows signs of being somewhat strange, distant and manipulative. Therefore, as viewers, we expect to see something atrocious on his part, we are on the lookout and, in a way, prepared for what is to come. But Ramsay directs our gaze correctly, he evokes these sensations without actually showing the perversion.

Likewise, red, in addition to making us assume tragedy, has an even deeper connection: with childbirth. The blood, the viscera and the entrails, that irrevocable union between mother and child that, even if they do not understand each other, will keep them united forever.

And all this enlivened by music capable of giving life to emotions, but also of making contrasts with what is seen on the screen. Thus, for example, we have the jovial Cada dia of Buddy Holly accompanying the heartbreaking face of Tilda Swinton.

We need to talk about Kevin: destroying stereotypes

As we have anticipated, We need to talk about Kevin It distances itself enormously from the stereotypes of motherhood and even from couple roles.

Eva does not show excessive maternal instinct, but her partner, played by John C. Reilly, seems enthusiastic. However, this enthusiasm will end up blinding the father who is unable to see or accept his daughter’s mistakes. While she tries to find a solution or explanation for the sociopathy that the little boy seems to have, the father prefers to look the other way.

In fact, the relationship between the parents is truly interesting. It is true that the father plays a very residual role in the film, he barely appears and his scenes are, essentially, happy.

The worst part always seems to be linked to Eva. And although this can be seen as a mere focus of the film, it is, in reality, revealing. In other words, The fact that the father figure barely acquires relevance in the film only means that the same thing happens in the life of the family.

Thus, we have, on the one hand, a father who allows himself to be manipulated by his son, who prefers to live the illusion of having a wonderful son and a perfect family; on the other, to a mother who, perhaps, does not have the greatest maternal instinct in the world at first, but who worries enormously about the attitude of her son. A mother who sees that Kevin has problems, who manipulates as he pleases and who shows signs of violence.

The viewer perceives, in a way, a single mother, the figure of the father is irrelevant, although it benefits Kevin. By dosing the story through flashbackswe understand that, in the present, society blames Eva for something Kevin did.

It won’t take long for the viewer to wonder why they blame her, If she, as a mother, really has any responsibility for her son’s actions or if, in some way, she tried to cover it up.

The doubt remains until the end and, in my opinion, that is what keeps us glued to the screen. Beyond what Kevin did – since it is something we can easily imagine and perhaps the film limps there – the intrigue lies in whether or not his mother is guilty.

A predictable intrigue, a mystery to which the viewer awaits an answer: was there a before and after? Was Kevin always bad? Is it the lack of affection or the prozac? We don’t know and that’s why Ramsay decides to break up his story in order to maintain uncertainty.

The interesting thing is that, Beyond Kevin, the point of view focuses squarely on his mother, her present and past events, in how she has faced the situation and in the internal conflict that is triggered in her: every mother loves her child, but can reject him at the same time.

Society will point to their mother as the culprit, something that arouses some discomfort in us, since it is done more frequently than we think and we try to find a reason for the evil when, perhaps, it was innate.

Horror without demons

Evil in childhood has often been justified in cinema through demonic experiences. It is disturbing to see a child full of evil, but also uncomfortable.

It is likely that, for this reason, many filmmakers have decided to give it a supernatural component; that is, justifying evil in childhood through fantasy. Many “seeds of the devil” have permeated our cinema, but We need to talk about Kevin completely avoids the fantastic element.

Little Kevin’s evil is on par with the devilish children of the horror genre; However, there is nothing in him that seems to indicate that he has been engendered by the devil himself. Is the family to blame for him? Do we look for the culprits outside or within the individual?

From initial sociopathy to later horror, Kevin is shown as an apathetic, manipulative and ruthless being that reminds us of episodes far removed from demons, but very close to reality like the Columbine massacre. M

massacre in which the culprits were found in the doctors who administered antidepressants and in a society that tolerates weapons when, surely, the keys were found in the diaries of the architects and between several factors.

Risky and heartbreaking, We need to talk about Kevin It is a necessary film that raises a problem that seems to remain taboo. Horror beyond demons and motherhood beyond the idyllic go hand in hand in a film that continues to preserve its essence, that does not age and that takes us down a bitter path full of questions.

You might be interested…