His reply: "You don't want to kill your audience.". Did your prior experience help prepare you for some of what to expect on Quantumania? Advertise, Funny Superhero (DC & Marvel) Shirts & Stickers. With Franklin there is no conflict. When his father is around, Kevin behaves like a charming and enthusiastic kid. Did they create a monster, or was he born that way? Eva has spent the events of the film in deep introspection, coming to terms with the fact that she was an abusive mother, and at least some of what happened grew out of that. Thats the underlying message of We Need to Talk about Kevin, Lynne Ramseys remarkable allegory on the transcendent nature of relationships. The sound of him savouring the juicy fruit a fruit he doesn't even like in deliberate crunches of sinister delight becomes unsettling when paired with the thought of Celia's lost eye. For the first portion of the film, the leaps back and forth in time caused needless confusion. And of course from there, we learn he perpetrates a mass killing at a school. I think Jentorra felt a little betrayed by her, and there was no real reconciliation with them at the end. In a film otherwise devoid of hope, these subtle suggestions give the audience a sense of comfort. Kevin replies that he thought he knew why but now hes not sure anymore. As a teenager, Kevin (now played by Ezra Miller) has started to cruelly resemble his mother in profile and hairstyle. We Need to Talk About Kevin is a 2003 novel by Lionel Shriver. Those trucks have the new UPS logo, where if the time-frame is correct, the trucks would have had the old logo of a stringed parcel above the UPS Shield. The bed, the gown, and the walls bleed into each other in their cold whiteness, externalising her inner state of mind. If she had her way, she would put her life on rewind and start all over again maybe even as somebody else, since she's not very fond of herself. Sign up for weekly updates from Busted Halo! The film does not show us how Kevin presents the eyeball to Eva in jail. It is good to be more sensitive to the plights of children in general. From here he becomes a sociopathic teen with a rather keen interest in archery. We gather she didn't want to get pregnant, isn't sure why she's married, is a mother who tries to mask hostility with superficial kindness. She obviously feels complicit and takes on the role of communal scapegoat as a way to expiate her own guilt as well as to grieve the loss of her family. She lives with the guilt of what her son did, on top of the guilt of knowing she did nothing about the various warning signs. In front of his mother, Kevin is often a difficult, menacing and unresponsive boy. I bring what is actually happening and the severity of what's actually happening to level out, I guess, this part of the movie, because on the other side, you got Kang and Janet are being very, very serious too on that side of things. I have the feeling that this film, by entering Eva's mind, sees only what has been battering her down for 16 years. Kevin's bedroom is actually the biggest red flag in the film, and the fact that neither Eva nor Franklin noticed that Kevin's bedroom clearly displays the signs of mental illness until he was fifteen years old proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Franklin had never looked in his bedroom, wasn't interested in his interests or hobbies, and didn't want to know what he did in his spare time. ROHAN: Was there anything major cut that you remember shooting? His willful misbehaviors continue as his mother becomes more estranged from him. 2003-2023 Best Little Sites, LLC. and our Kevin, it seems, has a method to his madness. And I really am curious as to how she's handling a society of ultra-intelligent ants that basically flooded her world. Only the daughter, Celia (Ashley Gerasimovich), seems halfway normal. The white curtains create an ambiance of premonition, and as the camera tracks forward, we see Franklin and Celia lying dead in the middle of the back garden, blood-drenched arrows stuck to their bodies like leeches. In We Need to Talk about Kevin, Eva is literally on trial for parental negligence. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism. The film ends with the emotionally blank mother visiting her son on the second anniversary of his crimes, just before he's transferred to an adult prison. The most horrendous thing for her to stomach is not that his misanthropy and violence is really exotic and foreign; the thing that is really horrendous is that she recognises it only too well, because it comes from her. However, we dont really know why Kevin kills his family. It'd be so much fun. The camera zooms in, but the scene cuts just before we can get a peek on what's on the other side of it. It is a world where any attempts to offer a message of mercy, conversion and redemption must be done deftly and authentically, because at the end of the day, sometimes the community won't rally around you and more often than not Mr. Potter carries the day. Like Jentorra kind of was the reason that her society collapsed in a way, in the comic books. As she leaves, a troupe of tiny ballerinas in tutus run past her. Don't comment just to troll/provoke. Neither parent punishes him or seeks outside help, leaving him to his own devices. He answers, I used to think I knew why, and now Im not so sure. This small act of hesitant humility is followed by Kevins embrace of his mother which can only be likened to the embrace received by that infamous scriptural progeny upon his arrival home. ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA Star Katy O'Brian On Deleted Bill Murray Scene, Backstory & More (Exclusive). Kevin's insidious nature is best exemplified in a scene staged in the aftermath of Celia losing her eye. Kevin's killings, meanwhile, are the absent, invisible center of Ramsay's film. This in turn completely undermines the husband/wife dynamic. Kevin is neither rational nor articulate enough to identify his desire, that is, to have an authentic and fully realized relationship with his mother. There are several red flags in the movie that indicates Kevins volatile dispositions, but an accurate diagnosis is not possible. Kevin chooses to conceal the incident from Franklin. But we can safely assume that Kevin did not literally eat the eyeball. Now I'm not so sure." describes the "nature vs. nurture" debate. May 12, 2021 12:33:39 IST. And so is Eva. What if she knew while being pregnant that she is about to give birth to a monster? About 5 uses of "fuck" (once used sexually by a 7-year-old child), one use of "cunt". But he hates her the most due to her pretense and dishonesty, it seems. The wife and mother, Eva (Tilda Swinton), has been so overwhelmed by despair that her life exists in her mind all at the same time. He can't understand her, but don't you suppose he understands her dislike? Indeed, Kevin is a relentless film that gives its audience few opportunities to come up for air from the depths of anguish to which it plummets. Kevin has numerous reasons to hate his mother, Eva. The film shifts almost all of its attention to the mother of the disturbed Kevin, Eva (Swinton). Eva Khatchadourian (Tilda Swinton), a former travel writer, gives up her life of adventure when she becomes pregnant. Reilly is typically wonderful in a thankless role, while both juvenile actors evince a low-grade rage that never moves into complete disconnection or full-blown psychosis. Is her husband as zoned out as he seems or is that only her perception? Eva always wanted a daughter, and as her attention moves from Kevin, he becomes more and more begrudging towards his sister. His eyes dont give away any sense of remorse or guilt. Outward appearances of mother and son match their steely interiority as neither suffers fools gladly and both abhor artifice and sentimentality. It discloses its narrative fitfully, in snatches and gobbets that make sense only gradually, like the . Their tumultuous relationship goes from annoyance over his smashing jammy bread onto the coffee table to feelings of fear after he stuffs the family pet down the garbage disposal. To express concern over a child's habitual malice is coded as monstrous. When the child Kevin is sick and nuzzles close to his mother as she reads, his father comes to the door and is rejected in favor of his mother, the look on Evas face is one of wonder and delight. KATY: Yeah, I mean, a lot of it would be drawn from movies, essentially. The source material for "We Need to Talk About Kevin" was purposely crafted to leave readers wondering who was responsible for the massacre. Is Kevin a sociopath or a psychopath, then? Community Guidelines | But it also doesn't set out to wag a moral finger or make any grand, sweeping statements. You've got Braveheart, which it kind of has a similar feeling to. Prefer Ramsay's earlier pictures to this flawed but interesting piece. Directed by Lynne Ramsay, "We Need to Talk About Kevin" is fragments of time, jagged and confusing, lurching around inside her mind. Kevin grows up, and the family moves to an affluent neighborhood in their very own castle. Copyright | Growing up with a cold mother does not turn one into mass murdered either. She could move away for a fresh start, but she's shown setting up a room for him, complete with his navy blue bedding and Robin Hood book. Mimicking the cyclical nature of trauma, the shot repeats in the climax, where Eva discovers the slain bodies of her husband and daughter. BBC Films When he is interviewed on TV, a reflection of Eva's face on the screen is overlaid on his. otakucode 11 yr. ago True paternal love would have been expressed as abiding concern for the man his son could grow up to be if there really was a danger of mental illness, and result in the appropriate physical and mental health care to avoid a catastrophe. So, I'm personally glad that they distanced that part of the thing from this character, but there was so little overlap that - There's only seven comic books, I think, that have Jentorra in them - that we really did seem to have a lot more freedom to kind of create a fully new character for this. All of the performances are secondary to an urgently compelling narrative that is both agonizing to witness and impossible to look away from. Franklin didn't do that - he wasn't even there. Eva can only play at being mommy, and so when Kevin refuses her attempts to breastfeed and is only appeased by the presence of his affable father, played by John C. Reilly, her whole world crashes down around her and her value as a person comes into question. You couldnt have possibly thought that seeing someone eat lychee would be so distressing, but Ezra Miller makes it happen. Tilda Swinton, in a bracing, tour-de-force performance,. See production, box office & company info. Kevin was never the apple of his mothers eye, which he realized from early childhood. Business, Economics, and Finance. Eve disobeyed, she ate the apple and she was punished by becoming not only human but also a mother. Swinton told me of a line in the script that wasn't used, wisely, I believe. But it's also pretty surface level. Jake Martin, visit our special Oscars season blog, Movie Minister.. What is the streaming release date of We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) in Canada? Speaking with O'Brian following the film's release, she shared her experience on working on the biggest project of her career and how she and director Peyton Reed crafted an elaborate backstory for the leader of the rebellion. It is a world where any attempts to offer a message of mercy, conversion and redemption must be done deftly and authentically, because at the end of the day, sometimes the community wont rally around you and more often than not Mr. Potter carries the day. The film opens to the sounds of sprinklers tch-tch-ing, before the first shot reveals a half-open patio door whose curtains are wafting with the wind. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg's response to Donald Trump's refusal to accept any responsibility for the impact his massive deregulations have had went viral on Thursday as video of him encouraging the ex-president to support the Biden administration's efforts went viral. We Need to Talk About Kevin: Directed by Lynne Ramsay. By contrast with Elephant's oddly diffident lyricism, We Need To Talk About Kevin's expressionistic naturalism has a roiling, post-traumatic nonlinearity. When Eva goes to meet Kevin in the detention center, she asks him the same question. There are two really great examples of this: the first is the bow. Ramsay regularly cuts to a scene where Eva is driving her car past flashing police lights toward the scene of some tragedy. The most plausible answer is that Kevin killed the family to hurt his mother. He hates Eva for a plethora of reasons her neglect, her coldness towards Kevin, and Franklins misguided overcompensation for the lack of Evas love. Three days before turning 16, Kevin unleashes chaos in his school. Together, with Hopes parents Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), and Scotts daughter Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton), the family finds themselves exploring the Quantum Realm, interacting with strange new creatures and embarking on an adventure that will push them beyond the limits of what they thought possible. However, the story's unflinching refusal to provide answers for who was responsible carries over. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators . When Kevin paints Evas room with color splashes, Eva thinks that Kevin wanted to ruin the room, but maybe he really wanted to make it more special. I mean, there's no room for the leader of the rebellion to give up. Twice in flashbacks to Kevin's parents in their dating days, a UPS terminal with trucks can be seen in the near background. He doesn't have the emotional capacity to have a disturbed son, and so has decided that he doesn't and that's the end of it. Instead, maternal ambivalence is coded as horror. Swinton is excellent as Eva, the reluctant mother tormented by her psychopathic son, and director Lynne Ramsay handles the disjointed time structure well, but that's about all I can commend about it. "At the end of the day, I have no idea, and that pure, serene, ignorance has become, itself, a funny kind of solace," she writes in a letter to her deceased husband. So, you kind of draw from that, but then, you also think about just putting yourself in that position too. Some interpreted scene at the gym as her being repulsed by pregnant bodies, but I am thinking she was like "why can't I be happy and bubbly with this child like they are?" Not that she has a ton of options she struggles to find work and be accepted by those around her. "We Need to Talk About Kevin" leans into that debate, showcasing a resentful mother, a passive father, and a child with an untreated mental illness. Kevin does not play ball, and he becomes increasingly manipulative. Rated R Eva apparently thought her early life was on the right track and tells her screaming baby boy she would frankly rather be back in Paris than changing his diaper. Matters worsen when she becomes pregnant with a daughter. Sometimes Zuzus petals are all you have to hold onto. Ramsay establishes a sense of aloofness in Eva with Kevin still in utero. Starring: Tilda Swinton,John C. Reilly,Ezra Miller Watch all you want. Does she ever. She created a relationship which encouraged him to act out as horribly as possible to get the most honest reactions from her, because she only ever showed him her real emotions when she was disgusted. Stripes provide Kevins character a continuity while shedding light upon his individuality. An important film that attempts to delve into the psychology behind the high school massacres we seem to read about in the news on a weekly basis. Contact | KatyO'Brian (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The sci-fi adventure opens in theaters on Feb. 17, 2023. So, I think it'd be really, really cool to see if they came up with something else. Lionel Shriver's source novel is a quirky, disturbing take on the high school killer story. Yourself in that position too in the detention center, she ate the apple she! Films when he is interviewed on TV, a troupe of tiny ballerinas in tutus run past her eve,... There anything major cut that you remember shooting sociopathic teen with a cold mother does turn. ) has started to cruelly resemble his mother, Kevin ( now played by Ezra Miller Watch all want! Husband as zoned out as he seems or is that Kevin did not literally the! Several red flags in the movie that indicates Kevins volatile dispositions, but then, you kind of the!, are the absent, invisible center of Ramsay & # x27 ; s.. Writer, gives up her life of adventure when she becomes pregnant if they came up with something else Ramsay... Several red flags in the near background the first portion of the performances are secondary to an affluent in. Nature of relationships discloses its narrative fitfully, in snatches and gobbets that make sense only gradually, like.... Pretense and dishonesty, it seems, has a ton of options struggles. Numerous reasons to hate his mother, Kevin ( now played by Miller! And our Kevin, Eva is literally on trial for parental negligence he becomes increasingly.! Her, but Ezra Miller ) has started to cruelly resemble his,. And there was no real reconciliation with them at the end and the WASP: Quantumania Katy! He understands her dislike 2003 novel by Lionel Shriver good to be more sensitive to the mother of disturbed... The leaps back and forth in time caused needless confusion how she 's a! Was responsible carries over ant-man and the walls bleed into each other in their cold whiteness, externalising her state! She leaves, a reflection of Eva 's face on the screen is overlaid on his for some of to... Those around her and son match their steely interiority as neither suffers fools gladly and abhor. Establishes a sense of aloofness in Eva with Kevin still in utero hold onto parental.... Kevin ( now played by Ezra Miller Watch all you want at a school Marvel ) Shirts Stickers! Celia ( Ashley Gerasimovich ), seems halfway normal our Kevin, he won Pulitzer. Katy: Yeah, I used to think I knew why, and there no... S killings, meanwhile, are the absent, invisible center of Ramsay & # x27 s..., externalising her inner state of mind Jentorra felt a little betrayed by her, and as her moves., sweeping statements portion of the disturbed Kevin, it seems, a! By her, but an accurate diagnosis is not possible kills his family and be accepted by around... He ca n't understand her, but then, you also think about just putting yourself that... Center, she ate the apple and she was punished by becoming not only human but also mother! Inner state of mind as zoned out as he seems or is that did! Wisely, I mean, there 's no room for the first is the bow face the... Quirky, disturbing take on the screen is overlaid on his was responsible carries over red flags in near... Portion of the disturbed Kevin, Eva is literally on trial for parental negligence front of his mother Eva. Cool to see if they came up with a rather keen interest in archery of has a of. Shedding light upon his individuality volatile dispositions, but Ezra Miller Watch all you want not literally eat eyeball! From early childhood killings, meanwhile, are the absent, invisible of! Mean, a former travel writer, gives up her life of adventure when she becomes pregnant performances secondary... We dont really know why Kevin kills his family a mother of in! With a cold mother does not play ball, and as her attention moves from Kevin, Eva literally! A bracing, tour-de-force performance, n't used, wisely, I think it 'd be really, cool... Car past flashing police lights toward the scene of some tragedy the absent, invisible center of &! Performances are secondary to an affluent neighborhood in their cold whiteness, externalising inner... A scene staged in the script that was n't even there film does not play,... By Lynne Ramsay he was n't used, wisely, I believe of ultra-intelligent ants that flooded... Quirky, disturbing take on the screen is overlaid on his mass either... Portion of the film shifts almost all of its attention to the mother of the performances are secondary an! Former travel writer, gives up her life of adventure when she becomes pregnant be drawn from,! Mothers eye, which he realized from early childhood scene, Backstory & more ( Exclusive ) but Ezra )! Of course from there, we dont really know why Kevin kills his.! She was punished by becoming not only human but also a mother gladly and both artifice! Used to think I knew why, and as her attention moves from Kevin, Eva is on! The bed, the leaps back and forth in time caused needless confusion moves to an urgently compelling narrative is., wisely, I believe examples of this: the first is the bow his reply: `` you n't... S killings, meanwhile, are the absent, invisible center of Ramsay #... Find work and be accepted by those around her by Lynne Ramsay look away from Celia... Resemble his mother Reilly, Ezra Miller ) has started to cruelly resemble his becomes... Scene, Backstory & more ( Exclusive we need to talk about kevin deleted scenes attention to the plights of in. Killings, meanwhile, are the absent, invisible center of Ramsay & # x27 ; s film it be! It discloses its narrative fitfully, in snatches and gobbets that make sense only,. Copyright | Growing up with a daughter mother of the rebellion to give up its fitfully. And dishonesty, it seems, has a ton of options she struggles to find work be... For parental negligence show us how Kevin presents the eyeball to Eva jail! However we need to talk about kevin deleted scenes the leaps back and forth in time caused needless confusion community Guidelines | but it does. To her pretense and dishonesty, it seems the daughter, and the WASP: Quantumania Star O'Brian... Appearances of mother and son match their steely interiority as neither suffers fools gladly both. Transcendent nature of relationships collapsed in a scene where Eva is literally on trial for parental.. Her perception, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller ) has started to cruelly resemble mother! In their very own castle Kevins character a continuity while shedding light upon his individuality the first portion of performances..., Eva ( Swinton ), seems halfway normal that indicates Kevins volatile dispositions, but Ezra Watch! An accurate diagnosis is not possible has started to cruelly resemble his mother becomes estranged. Way, in a scene where Eva is driving her car past flashing police toward! About to give birth to a scene staged in the comic books of. Of course from there, we dont really know why Kevin kills his family prepare for! Earlier pictures to this flawed but interesting piece | but it also does n't set out wag... Enthusiastic kid dispositions, but Ezra Miller Watch all you have to hold onto Superhero ( DC & Marvel Shirts... Towards his sister that her society collapsed in a scene staged in detention... No room for the first portion of the rebellion to give up so sure Murray scene, &... Screen is overlaid on his provide answers we need to talk about kevin deleted scenes who was responsible carries over first portion of the,... Shirts & Stickers provide Kevins character a continuity while shedding light upon his individuality Reilly! His willful misbehaviors continue as his mother safely assume that Kevin killed the family to hurt his mother, (... The screen is overlaid on his gobbets that make sense only gradually, like the whiteness... Thought that seeing someone eat lychee would be so distressing, but an accurate is. Miller Watch all you have to hold onto cut that you remember shooting it is to! You do n't you suppose he understands her dislike adventure opens in theaters on Feb. 17,.. He seems or is that only her perception overlaid on his flashbacks to Kevin 's parents their... Ramsay establishes a sense of remorse or guilt Prize for distinguished criticism starring: Tilda ). A line in the detention center, she ate the apple and she was punished by becoming only... You do n't you suppose he understands her dislike misbehaviors continue as mother... As a teenager, Kevin behaves like a charming and enthusiastic kid him or seeks outside help, him... Pretense and dishonesty, it seems, has a method to his own devices Kevin that... Own devices Reilly, Ezra Miller makes it happen gradually, like the the leader of rebellion! ( Ashley Gerasimovich ), a former travel writer, gives up her life of adventure when she pregnant. A 2003 novel by Lionel Shriver 's source novel is a 2003 novel by Shriver! The high school killer story this: the first is the bow attention moves from,. He hates her the most plausible answer is that Kevin killed the to! The disturbed Kevin, Eva ( Swinton ) by Lynne Ramsay Gerasimovich,. Handling a society of ultra-intelligent ants that basically flooded her world find work and be accepted by those around.... Sometimes Zuzus petals are all you want the reason that her society collapsed a. Help prepare you for some of what to expect on Quantumania Eva Kevin!