FOCUS | We Need To Talk About Kevin

2011 | 1hr 52mins | Drama, Thriller | Rated 15 | Dir. Lynne Ramsay

Flushed with uncertainty, dread and often confusion; 2020 has given us a plethora of emotions to fixate on. As we enter the most festive of months, during which the colour red is spotted almost everywhere; let's take a look back on a piece of cinema also gushing with this primal of colours.

‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’ speaks for itself and invites any audience to be forced to have at least once conversation about it afterwards. My partner, quite understandably, didn’t really have the words to express his feelings at the end of the films. Me, on the other hand, could not stop talking about it.

All of the action is to the point, much like Kevin’s weapon of choice used throughout most of the film and finally ‘showcased’ at the finish. Every action shown on screen is building the dread I spoke of at the beginning, that something awful is going to happen. Yet, the minimal dialogue is just as punchy, ruthless and a testament to the heart wrenching emotion behind the pivotal characters of Kevin and his mother Eva, despite their seemingly being no emotion behind their eyes whatsoever. The way the director hints at the tragic and disturbing crescendo to come by throwing (very literally at one point) the colour red in our faces is often. Yet, as you’re concentrating so hard to decrypt the relationship between mother and son, you may miss it.

At the beginning of this story, we see red being used as a symbol of life as Eva takes part in ‘La Tomatina’ festival in Spain. The sheer mess and unclean nature of this festival may prove to be the biggest first clue of the mess to come later on in her life, but you cannot deny the colour red representing sheer joy and passion for Eva’s previous life. This festival also marks the time when she meets Kevin’s father, Franklin which means that the red hue plastered on our screens during this meeting could represent the start of creating a life for a woman; a life that fills Eva with burden and struggle.

As soon as Kevin’s character enters his quietly turbulent teenage years and Ezra Miller’s eerie and captivating performance is upon us, you can’t help but feel uncomfortable and nervous watching him. With behaviour so erratic and manipulative on a good day, even a simple task of making a jam sandwich becomes entrancing for us. Of all the sandwich fillings to use, I suspect that jam was not chosen on a whim. Such a trait of innocence, reminding us that Kevin is still just a child as he splatters the sweet spread on his bread. Some viewers might connect this innocent action as lazy, however as we’ve watched Kevin grow up throughout the film, we have come face to face with his overwhelming sense of curiosity and the consequences that follow. Making this sandwich may be just a simple task of nourishment for you and I, but for Kevin it is an opportunity to play with patterns, push past the normal protocols in life. Arguably, you could say that he has been doing this quite successfully since his early years and his main motive has been to antagonise his mother, Eva. However, the one thing I loved about the jam sandwich scene is that I was witnessing a moment with just Kevin and his mind. He has no audience, it is just him, his motor skills and his imagination; a combination that proves unstoppable and dangerous in the scenes to come. 

At this point, I feel like if I continue, I should include the disclaimer ‘Symbolic Spoilers Ahead!’. Instead, I urge you to watch this piece of cinema and try and spot any tell tale clues that may translate into something more than just a prop, costume choice or location. This is the thing I love most about films of this nature and this genre. Everything has meaning, you just have to be willing to look for it.

- Melissa Swain