We Need to Talk About Kevin
Metascore
68 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 37 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 37
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 37
  3. Negative: 5 out of 37
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  1. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    Mar 8, 2012
    25
    Ramsay delivers an overdirected, conceptually obnoxious art film that's torture to sit through, listen to, and think about.
  2. New York Observer
    Reviewed by: Rex Reed
    Nov 30, 2011
    0
    This is the most unwatchable horror movie masquerading as social comment I have seen this year.
  3. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    Dec 9, 2011
    38
    In this pretentious art-house downer version of "The Bad Seed," the only surprise is that the folks didn't ship the little monster off to the looney bin before he reached puberty.
  4. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Mick LaSalle
    Mar 1, 2012
    25
    It is a very good performance in a very bad movie.
  5. Slant Magazine
    Reviewed by: Ed Gonzalez
    Dec 4, 2011
    38
    The purpose of Lynne Ramsay's hodgepodge approach is to distract us from the flimsiness of a story that suggests a snide art-house take on "The Omen."

User Reviews

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User Score
7.3 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 97 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 33
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 33
  3. Negative: 4 out of 33
  1. JennetP
    5
    I found this film kind of a mess. Arty in its silences and temporal jumps, artless in its sledgehammer symbolism (an alternate title could be "We Need to Talk About Kevin's Intake of Food That Looks Like Blood and Body Parts"), the film asks much of viewers but doesn't reward our patience. Anyone who can't predict exactly what will happen--including the weapon and a rough body count--is in the next theater viewing a different movie; I kept watching because some of these "oops, wrong theater" folk wrote reviews in major papers, reviews promising a big surprise. Oh well. But yes, the acting is wonderful, and the nature/nurture question genuinely fascinating. With a stronger script and fewer pretensions, this film could have been truly compelling.… Full Review »
  2. nilz
    4
    I just couldn't quite pull it off. "Kevin" was a film that did many things very right, but did enough things completely wrong to ruin it for me. Its hard to describe the disappointing aspects of the film, because so many of them are tied up with the expectations created by the really well done parts. The visual storytelling starts out strong, enabling viewers to get to know characters and plot elements on an emotional level with out everything being spelled out to the letter. The problem is the film begins to deal with absolutes, and the visual storytelling begins to fail. There are beautifully shot, almost abstract segments in the film which instead of hinting at larger elements of characters and plot, are often used to brush over key elements of relationships (the mother and father in particular) and diluting character development in the process. Kevin's character is portrayed as an absolute evil, and overall a very one dimensional, similarly with the father, who is completely clueless throughout the film. There is a subtlety that is wants so badly to be the core of the film but is consistently failing throughout through the hands of barefaced writing/directing. Tilda Swinton fights hard to keep her character interesting, but the other actors, especially those that played Kevin didn't stand a chance.

    Honestly, I can only Imagine that there were people working on this film who all had vastly different ideas of how it should turn out, and in the end it feels like the directing is what sunk the ship.    … Full Review »
  3. IAmPhongNguyen
    10
    We Need to Talk About Kevin made myself speechless when the credits rolled. It was an absolutely a groundbreaking film and while watching throughout the whole film, I felt the actual depression of a mother thanks to the excellent performance by Tilda Swinton. We Need to Talk About Kevin is a film people should be talking about when I pass them. Right after the film was done, it was official. Kevin was one of the most unpleasant person I've seen on screen.… Full Review »
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