We Need to talk about Kevin

I was watching Chiller last year and they had a documentary similar to the Bravo’s 101 Top Horror films however this special was a countdown of the top creepy kids in horror movies.

The list naturally included Linda Blair in The Exorcist and Damien from The Omen. Now them as well as the children from Children of the Corn are included in the list.

Also included in the list was the young girl from The Orphan and Haley Joel Osment from the Sixth Sense.

 

There were also some omissions from the list that I felt should have been on the list. Karen Cooper from Night of the Living Dead should have been included As well as Rhoda Penmark from the Bad Seed.

The Bad Seed follows a mother that realizes that her daughter is a killer. The mother believes that this was caused by the fact that her biological father was a serial killer and that genetics is the true cause of her daughter’s insanity.

Included on the list was Macaulay Culkin in The Good Son. What was unique about the character of Henry Evans on the list is the fact that he isn’t possessed by demons or the Antichrist or is a grown up in a child’s body he is in fact just a true Psychopath. He comes from a loving family yet is still manipulative as well as takes pleasure from causing car accidents to happen as well as the killing of animals.

The film follows both Culkin and Elijah Wood who is the only person to see that side of Henry and yet not only does no one listen to him they all look at him like he is the crazy one in the film.

This past spring I attended a screening of We Need to Talk about Kevin.

Kevin Katchadourian is a brand new character that I feel should be added to any creepy kid list.

Taking place one year after a High School Massicare that Kevin was responsible for the film follows Kevin’s mother Eva (Tilda Swinton) who is remembering the incidents in the past that led to the aftermath that she suffers for.

Eva who was a successful travel writer now has to beg for a job at a mall travel agency who often travels to the prison to see her incarcerated son.

The flashbacks follow Eva’s relationship with Kevin who from infancy has a loveless relationship with Eva. Going from incessant crying to refusing to roll a ball with her and rejecting toilet training when he gets older he has a rougher relationship with her and after angering her to the point where she breaks his arm accidently He holds it over head to get his way.

 

All the while Eva is trying to communicate these fears to her husband (John C. Reilly) who constantly dismisses her fears.

The character of Kevin is played by three different actors. Ezra Miller plays the role as a teenager, Jasper Newell is the 8 year old Kevin, and the infant Kevin is played by Rocky Duer. All Three of the young actors play the role cold and scheming and frightening. The performances of all the characters are amazing.

 

I also like the fact that the film explores the aftermath of a School Massacre, particularly on the parents of the killer.

As I stated earlier Eva was a successful travel writer that after the tragedy has lost her job, her home and all of her money to civil suits in the aftermath.

To take it further there are scenes where Eve is walking down the street and is happy to be hired for a job and she is assaulted by the mother of one of her sons victims. There is another scene where she encounters a Mother inside the grocery store, and her house and car are vandalized by the people in the town knowing that she is the mother of the child responsible for the killings.

These scenes I find fascinating especially in the scene where she encounters one of the actual victims now confined to a wheelchair approaches her just to see how she is doing.

 

Many will call We Need to Talk about Kevin many different things.

Many will call it a Horror film. Others will call it a drama and many more will call it an Arthouse flick.

I just recommend it to many parents to help then see the signs in their own children.