Release Date – 12/9/2011 (limited)
Eva and Franklin Katchadourian have a son named Kevin. As Kevin grows up, he acts out towards his mother so much to the point that it seems like he hates her. Meanwhile he acts completely opposite to his father, to disguise the fact that there is an issue. He constantly torments his mother driving her to feel like she does not even want to be around her own son. Franklin dismisses the claims that the young child is doing anything on purpose. When Kevin becomes a teenager, nothing changes in his attitude. Eva starts to become afraid of him as he acts out even more. He is just not a happy person and decides to take out his anger on his schoolmates by locking them inside the school and massacring them. Flash forward a couple years and the mother is now living alone with the guilt of not being able to stop this tragedy. It’s a pretty messed up movie. The kid is basically the spawn of Satan. He would give little Damien from The Omen a run for his money. But its finely acted and put together nicely to keep the viewer in awe.
Tilda Swinton carries this movie as Eva. She puts on a damn fine performance as a woman riddled with guilt from the crimes her son committed. She now must live out her life being cursed at, looked down upon and shunned by the general public that blames her for Kevin’s actions. She seems to be living on the edge of suicide as everything is negative in her life now. John C. Reilly plays Franklin. His performance can easily be looked over because he is almost a background character compared to Swinton. He does a good job of shedding his usual comedic personality and sticking with straight drama. The character of Kevin is played in the younger days by Jasper Newell and as a teenager by Ezra Miller. Both of them are pretty scary. Just no feelings whatsoever as he absolutely tortures his poor mother. When a younger sister, played by Ashley Gerasimovich, comes along, you can only imagine how the jealousy intensifies the situation.
Lynne Ramsay directed and wrote based on the 2003 Lionel Shriver novel of the same name. Its put together in a way where flashbacks are shown throughout the film. As we see things in the present day, we see some kind of connecting scene from the past also. I felt like that was really well done and you don’t blow your load seeing the big moment right away. It also has a lot of visual style to it. Blurry camera shots, lots of darkness and also scenes with lots of RED. In the end, it’s a classic tale of nature vs. nurture. It doesn’t seem like any particular moment in raising Kevin caused him to become a monster. It might have been ingrained in him from birth. The parents not seeing eye to eye on the problem and therefore never getting him help is only a minor factor in what seemed like an inevitable tragedy. Kevin is just evil. Although the movie is not a happy one, NOT IN THE LEAST, its still excellently executed and acted. You just might not want to watch it more than once. But its just in time for Awards season. Swinton is sure to be in the running.
IMDB – 7.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes – 83%
Movie Wiseguys – 7/10