Movie · 2011 · Drama, Thriller · 1h 53m · R · English
Curator score: 6.8/10 (710.7K ratings)
This conversation is long overdue.
Overview
After her son Kevin commits a horrific act, troubled mother Eva reflects on her complicated relationship with her disturbed son as he grew from a toddler into a teenager.
Ratings
Curator score: 6.8/10
IMDb: 7.4/10
Letterboxd: 3.79/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 74%
Metacritic: 68
TMDB: 7.5/10
Director
Lynne Ramsay
Production
BBC Film, Independent, Footprint Investment, Peccadillo Pictures, Lipsync Productions, Rockinghorse Films
Cast
Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller, Jasper Newell, Rock Duer, Ashley Gerasimovich, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Alex Manette, Kenneth Franklin, Leslie Lyles, Paul Diomede, Michael Campbell, J. Mallory McCree, Mark Elliot Wilson, James Chen, Lauren Fox, Blake DeLong, Andy Gershenzon, Kelly Wade, Ursula Parker
Where to watch
Amazon Prime Video, Peacock Premium, Philo, MUBI, OVID, Cineverse, Midnight Pulp, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Peacock Premium Plus
Curator Review
Verdict
A cold, formally controlled psychological drama that turns maternal dread into something almost physical. It’s not an easy watch, but it’s one of the more memorable films about guilt, alienation, and the fear that love may not be enough.
Best for
viewers who like bleak psychological dramas
fans of unsettling, ambiguous character studies
people drawn to strong visual storytelling and sound design
audiences interested in difficult family dynamics
Skip if
you want a conventional thriller plot
you’re sensitive to depictions of child violence or parental trauma
you prefer emotional catharsis or clear answers
you dislike slow, oppressive, highly stylized films
Overview
Lynne Ramsay makes motherhood feel like a haunted state of being, not a sentimental one. The film is less interested in explaining Kevin than in trapping us inside Eva’s dread, regret, and fractured memory, with Tilda Swinton giving a performance that is all restraint, exhaustion, and barely contained panic.
Worth noting
What lingers most is the film’s formal precision: the red-drenched imagery, the abrasive soundscape, and the way ordinary domestic life keeps curdling into menace. Ezra Miller’s Kevin is chilling not because he is loud, but because he is so controlled and unreadable, a child who seems to understand power before he understands empathy.
Bottom line
This is a punishing film, and it’s meant to be. It works best as a psychological autopsy of family, responsibility, and the stories we tell ourselves after catastrophe. If you want comfort, look elsewhere; if you want a film that gets under your skin and stays there, this is exactly that kind of experience.
Top Letterboxd reviews
lauren (4★) · 16479 likes
we need to talk about birth control
maria (3★) · 12809 likes
they should have talked about kevin a tiny bit more
there is no howie only zuul (4★) · 9582 likes
what i REALLY wanna talk about is how miss. lynne ramsay expects me to believe that john c reilly and tilda swinton made EZRA MILLER??? What.... what?? thats the real fuckin mystery yall lets talk about THAT
kyle (4.5★) · 7791 likes
if you thought being married to a man was bad, try giving birth to one