Eva Khatchadourian was once a successful travel writer but now she lives in a tiny house; as she leaves we see the house and her car are daubed with red paint. Her neighbours ignore her and people she meets in the street abuse her both verbally and physically. It soon becomes apparent that her son, Kevin, has done something terrible. Through a series of flashbacks we see that he was always an awkward child
but only with her. Eva's husband, who we only see during these flashbacks, thinks Kevin is just 'being a boy'. There are suggestions that something is seriously wrong; the disappearance of a pet and an 'accident' which causes his sister to lose an eye but there is no proof that he was involved. The only time Kevin is seen to be nice to his mother is when he is ill as a child and she reads him the story of 'Robin Hood'; shortly afterwards his father buys him a toy bow and arrow; something that eventually leads to a proficiency in archery. Eventually we learn what Kevin has done and even though there were hints at what happened it is still disturbing.
Movies are often described as 'Feel Good'; this is anything but that. It is disturbing from start to finish as we gradually learn what happened as well as seeing Eva's current life. Kevin was a disturbing child even when we see him as a baby; always crying when he is with his mother. As he grows he gets worse; defiant towards his mother; even refusing to be toilet trained till she does something drastic. Tilda Swinton does a fantastic job as Eva; one can almost feel her character's exhaustion and despair. Ezra Miller is also great as Kevin, one of the most monstrous young characters I can think of. Jasper Newell and Rocky Duer also impress playing Kevin as a youngster and an infant respectively. John C. Reilly is good as Kevin's father; a character it is easy to dislike as he can't see the wrong in his son of course he isn't horrible in front of him. Young Ashley Gerasimovich is impressive as Celia, Kevin's younger, and much nicer, sister. Given the nature of the 'Terrible Event' there is surprisingly little violence; that doesn't been it isn't disturbing though I felt uncomfortable through most of the film. Overall I'd recommend this to older viewers just don't expect to feel good when the final credits roll.
Movies are often described as 'Feel Good'; this is anything but that. It is disturbing from start to finish as we gradually learn what happened as well as seeing Eva's current life. Kevin was a disturbing child even when we see him as a baby; always crying when he is with his mother. As he grows he gets worse; defiant towards his mother; even refusing to be toilet trained till she does something drastic. Tilda Swinton does a fantastic job as Eva; one can almost feel her character's exhaustion and despair. Ezra Miller is also great as Kevin, one of the most monstrous young characters I can think of. Jasper Newell and Rocky Duer also impress playing Kevin as a youngster and an infant respectively. John C. Reilly is good as Kevin's father; a character it is easy to dislike as he can't see the wrong in his son of course he isn't horrible in front of him. Young Ashley Gerasimovich is impressive as Celia, Kevin's younger, and much nicer, sister. Given the nature of the 'Terrible Event' there is surprisingly little violence; that doesn't been it isn't disturbing though I felt uncomfortable through most of the film. Overall I'd recommend this to older viewers just don't expect to feel good when the final credits roll.