Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

We Need to Talk About Kevin Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 14, 2012

Winner of Best Director Award at the British Independent Film Awards, Lynne Ramsay's "We Need to Talk About Kevin" (2011) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Artificial Eye. The supplemental features on the disc include an original theatrical trailer and cast and crew interviews. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Bliss

There are a couple of different sequences in the beginning of We Need To Talk About Kevin that overlap and make it difficult to figure out whether what they show belongs in the past or the present. What links them is the color red.

There is a woman (Tilda Swinton, Julia, I Am Love) who looks seriously traumatized. She wears big sunglasses and rarely speaks. Her house is covered with red paint that makes her feel sick. Later on we learn why, but before we do we spend plenty of time with her observing what she does.

The woman meets different people who do not like her. She tries to avoid as many of them as possible, but occasionally she is forced to stop and listen to what they have to say. Some of them are angry. Some of them are sad.

Eventually, the woman gets a desk job in a small office. She files documents, makes copies, and seems to enjoy the fact that her life once again has a rhythm. Her boss tells her that she does not care who the woman is or what she has done in the past. As far as the woman is concerned, this is all that matters.

Various flashbacks reveal who the woman was before – when she had a decent job, when she had friends, when she had a family, when she had dreams.

In one of these flashbacks we see the woman's husband (John C. Reilly, Carnage, Hard Eight), a busy man who truly loves her. Then we see her son, Kevin (Ezra Miller, Afterschool, Another Happy Day), who is a difficult child. Most of the time he does things the woman does not want him to do. In these flashbacks the woman often looks annoyed, at times even angry. But her husband never notices because he is too busy working.

Finally, we see the woman’s daughter, a beautiful little girl with long blond hair. The woman is nice to her because she pays attention and does what she is told to do. The woman’s husband once again looks busy, or tired. There are a couple of sequences in which Kevin and his mother are also seen communicating, but they are short. In fact, they are frustratingly short.

Scottish director Lynne Ramsay’s We Need to Talk About Kevin is about guilt and responsibility. It is also a film about the importance of communication. The views expressed in it are often extreme but at the same time incredibly simple and logical. This is the reason why the film’s finale is so shocking – it proves that indifference can transform normal people into monsters.

For a long period of time the film looks and feels chaotic. Various sequences overlap while short flashbacks make it next to impossible to chronologically align all of the events Swinton’s character remembers. What the chaos reveals is that there is a crucial disconnect between the flashbacks, the way she interprets them and reality.

The most fascinating aspect of the film is its ability to imply violence, both physical and emotional, and then, sadly, justify its existence. It comes from all sorts of different directions and from perfectly normal people who all have a good excuse for their terrible actions. Indeed, there is some serious food for thought in this film.

Note: In 2011, We Need to Talk About Kevin was nominated for the Palme d’Or Award at the Cannes Film Festival. The film also won Best Director Award at the British Independent Film Awards.

We Need to Talk About Kevin Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Lynne Ramsay's We Need to Talk About Kevin arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Artificial Eye.

The high-definition transfer is solid. Most close-ups, for instance, convey excellent depth and crispness, especially when natural light is in abundance. Clarity is also very pleasing. Contrast levels are stable and convincing (there are absolutely no traces of contrast boosting whatsoever). Problematic post-production sharpening corrections have not been performed. Unsurprisingly, the film has a consistent, very convincing organic look. The high-definition transfer is also free of serious banding and aliasing patterns. Finally, there is no edge flicker or other stability issues to report in this review. There is only one sequence where I noticed some extremely light compression artifacts creeping in, but overall the presentation is indeed enormously satisfying. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

We Need to Talk About Kevin Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. A descriptive audio track is also included. For the record, Artificial Eye have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they split the image frame and the black bar below it.

The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track boasts a wide range of nuanced dynamics that effectively enhance many of the flashbacks. Some of the ambient effects, in particular, benefit a lot. However, surround activity is rather limited. But this is not to say that there are technical limitations; rather that the film's sound design does not favor aggressive surround activity. The dialog is always crisp, clean, stable, and easy to follow. Also, there are no sync issues or audio dropouts to report in this review.

We Need to Talk About Kevin Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Cast and Crew Interviews - actors Ezra Miller, Tilda Swinton, and John C. Reilly, director Lynne Ramsay, and cinematographer Seamus McGarvey discuss the key characters in We Need to Talk About Kevin as well as the film's message. In English, not subtitled. (16 min, PAL).

• Trailer - the original theatrical trailer for We Need to Talk About Kevin. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

We Need to Talk About Kevin Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

We Need to Talk About Kevin is a long overdue but very magnificent return for Lynne Ramsay. I thought that the film, which was adapted from Lionel Schriver's excellent novel, touched on a number of taboo subjects with impressive authority. The cast is excellent, with Tilda Swinton in particular turning in yet another unforgettable performance. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.