WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN is the arty, low-budget film version of a bestselling and slightly controversial book by Lionel Shriver. I knew somebody who's read the book and said it was rubbish and overrated, so my expectations weren't too high for this movie.

I'm glad they weren't. Although there are elements of interest in the undeniably strong story, this is an overrated and, it has to be said, sadly lacking film. The central theme of the story, which is of guilt, is overwrought and overloaded; it's the kind of situation that could be set up in two or three scenes, but instead it's repetitively shoved down our throats for the duration of the entire movie. The director acts like she's fresh out of film school, desperate to show off her understanding of symbolism, like the bloody 'scrubbing paint' imagery which seems to be repeated with a wearying frequency.

The cast is also deeply off-putting. Tilda Swinton is one of those actresses like Cate Blanchett who's incapable of bringing any warmth to her role. Admittedly it works well for some elements of this film's narrative, but it also makes her impossible to sympathise with despite the movie's best efforts; I was actively hoping she'd top herself, as horrible as that sounds. John C. Reilly is badly miscast in a serious role as her husband, although Ezra Miller as the titular character is excellent.

Sadly, this kind of hard-hitting drama needs to be explicit in order to show the devastating consequences of the story build, and Ramsay shies away from showing anything throughout. I know subtlety can be effective, but this film is just too subtle. And the arty way of depicting the story via fragmented flashback is just an annoying distraction.

While the idea behind "We Need to Talk About Kevin" is exceptional, I was put off by the direction of this film. While I know that a non-linear way of film making is popular these days, it's often overused--and here it is not used effectively. Too many times, the film jumps about in time and this took me out of the experience. This makes the film too unnecessarily confusing--so I am glad that I knew the plot so I could understand what was happening. Additionally, the film used a very deliberate artsy style--such as the overuse of the color red (the tomato fight, the stack of tomato soup cans, the paint)--resulting in sledgehammer symbolism. For me, the story was very strong on its own and didn't need all these tricks.

Tilda Swinton stars as a mother of a child who is seriously disturbed. However, her husband (John C. Reilly) is in complete denial and inexplicably the kid is never taken to see a therapist (or exorcist). As the film progresses, the child grows from an Oppositional-Defiant child to a cold and ruthless sociopath as a teen. You never ever hear about how he is perceived by teachers and neighbors--an odd omission. However, including the child killing animals, having one of the parents in complete denial, sexually offensive behavior and the hasty behavior towards his sister are all excellent touches--which I noticed since I used to work with folks like this (which would explained why I eventually gave up being a therapist and became a teacher). Unfortunately, as the film is out of sequence, you already know that sooner or later this will all lead to Kevin committing some atrocities.

Overall, this is a very compelling but frustrating film. I already talked about the film style which left me flat, but I also thought it very odd how the only one who seemed to notice anything unusual about Kevin was his mom. Even clever sociopaths are noticeable--perhaps not to everyone but to only be apparent to one person? Odd... The film is worth seeing but it just misses the mark for me--it could have been great.

This movie jumps around in time. Eva Khatchadourian (Tilda Swinton) is a hard-partying drifter in her youth. In the present, she lives a lonely haunted life with a hostile town around her. In between, she marries the permissive Franklin (John C. Reilly) and has a suburban life with two kids. Her first child is the troubled Kevin (Ezra Miller, Jasper Newell). She's not a happy mother and they struggle to get along. Then a troubling incident sends Kevin to prison.

There is a lot of good acting in this. Tilda Swinton is good with her distancing. She shows that she's slightly troubled too. Ezra Miller is cold and scary. The movie doesn't go for the easy emotions. This is a haunted, cold and unsettling story. It's not a fun movie but it is a fascinating watch.