We Need To Talk About Kevin

Film makers and authors alike have always enjoyed taking pot shots at the percieved facade of the suburban American family.
Ever since the mowing of the green lawns and the proping up of the white picket fences, the families that dwell within them have often been at the mercy of artists.
Whether it has been the escaped convicts of The Desperate Hours (1955) and Cape Fear (1962) that have bullied and tormented or the malfunctions of relationships portrayed in Revoultionary Road (2008) and American Beauty (1998) eroding its values, over the years suburban American families have taken a pasting.
Lynn Ramsey's 'We need to Talk About Kevin' leaves it truly in pieces, the picket fence burnt down, the green lawn torn up and Tilda Swinton's character Eva anxiously scratching red paint off the door.
'We Need To Talk About Kevin' an adaptation of Lionel Shrivers book of the same name, turns motherhood and the family base into the subject of horror. The threat does not come from relationship obstacles or escaped convicts but from the creation of a family member. Kevin (Ezra Miller) torments his mother from the pain of his birth and incessant screams of his infancy until the last time we see him.
Kevin unlike Eva is not a complex character, although there are instances in the film where his actions betray his natural behaviour, it all feels a little contrived. There are moments in the film, particuliarly during Kevin's childhood, where it seems that Kevin's eyes might turn red and his teddy bear might spontaneously combust. It is not always believable or interesting that he can be so rotten to his core when most of the film is portrayed with such arresting realism. The pantomine villany of Kevin is salvaged by the incredible performance of Tilda Swinton as Eva, a character that remains truly ambiguos throughout, her plain expressions hint at a strict coolness but her persistance and care with her son demonstrates her warmth. Swinton's character never gives too much away but the lingering menace of her son stays within her mind through out. 'We Need To Talk About Kevin' is a horror film without suspense,the horror is not impending but ever present. Eva is always immersed in the blood of her son's crimes, from her memory of the squashed tomatoes at the la tomatina festival she went to as a student to the cans of tomato soup that surround her in the supermarket, the horror stays with both Eva and the viewer.
There are several excellent shots that take seemingly pleasant or inocous moments and taints them with a sinister edge, the reflection of Eva's face in bent metal as she gives birth or the herd of ballerinas that surround her. All of this ofset by a notable soundtrack which juxtaposes itself rather than blending in. 'We Need To Talk About Kevin' is both chilling and arresting and only slightly let down by the Omen esque performance of ezra miller.