Editor's Cut: We Need to Talk about Kevin

TILDA Swinton has been moonlighting quite a bit in the fashion world what with being the face of Pringle and coming up with fragrances for fancy French perfume houses. So it’s good to see the Oscar winning actress getting back to the day job with We Need to Talk about Kevin, which has been showing at the London Film Festival and is on general release this weekend.

We Need to Talk about Kevin
Adapted from Lionel Shriver’s popular novel, the movie focuses on Eva (Tilda Swinton) a mother trying to cope after the terrible crimes her teenage son has committed. The movie switches from the past and present (seems a lot of that going on recently) between Eva’s drab new life in a small town and her more salubrious existence before.

Set in America, a place where there have been a number of cases of children going on violent and fatal rampages in schools, it’s hard not to analyse the narrative of Eva’s family life in terms of the complexities of parenting and Columbine-like precursors.  There are lots of subtexts to the character and behaviour of Eva and her relationships with her husband and son.

Kevin is cast as a kind of Damien in The Omen, particularly in relation to his relationship with his mother, but is he really evil or nothing that Super Nanny would not put right?

There is some great cinematography at work. Lots of symbolism, particularly liberal uses of red and s a constant evocative score that adds to changes in mood. Swinton puts in a first rate performance as you would expect in what is a thoughtful piece of movie making.

 In cinemas from October 21^st