We Need to Talk About Kevin is hands-down one of the scariest films of the year and a grand achievement for director Lynne Ramsay (Ratcatcher, Morvern Callar). The film addresses the difficult subject of teen violence whle asking the question: What if someone is just born wicked? The film is carried on the shoulders of Tilda Swinton, who plays Kevin’s mother, Eva. Her performance is jarring and Ramsay gives us front row seats to Eva’s evolution from begrudging mother to mother of a child who has committed a heinous crime.

Before becoming pregnant with Kevin (played in his teen years Ezra Miller), Eva was a world-traveler. She meets and falls in love with a photographer named Franklin (John C. Reilly). After a night of unprotected passion, Eva becomes pregnant. While she suffers from prenatal depression, Franklin is thrilled about the prospect of starting a family. After Kevin is born, Eva quickly suspects that even this newborn baby seems to have it in for her – always crying until Franklin comes home. As Kevin becomes a toddler, Eva thinks he’s suffering from developmental issues. The doctor explains to her that there’s nothing wrong with Kevin. Still, Eva can’t shrug off the uneasiness Kevin gives her and it only gets worse as he becomes a teenager. And that way he looks at her…

The story is told in non-linear form – it flashes back and forth through time every couple of minutes – and an easy signifier of past or present is Eva’s hair length. Through the series of vignettes we see Eva’s struggle to connect with Kevin and to act on all of the warning signs he gives off. In the present, we see what it’s like to live as a parent whose child has committed mass violence. The entire movie is told through her perspective, and despite one brief glimpse inside his head, Kevin remains a mystery throughout. He’s a bad seed without a cause.

Ramsay never gives the audience any easy answers to the nature vs. nurture debate. Who’s to blame when a child commits horrifying violence? In this case, it’s entirely Kevin’s fault. He’s as black-hearted as they come – a textbook sociopath from his bedroom to his clothes. But the idea that a kid is born evil makes people uncomfortable so no one wants to blame the kid. It all falls on Eva in this situation. She has to live with what her spawn has done and it’s a harrowing thing to watch. Swinton is stellar and it’s great to see her finally carry an entire movie nearly by herself.

Kevin will haunt you. It tackles heavy subject matter on a very real level and Ramsay does it all with her unique, artistic visual style. With 2011 nearly kaput, I’m gonna say that Contagion gets my vote for scariest movie of the year, with Kevin coming in a close second.

We Need to Talk About Kevin opens in NY and LA today.

- Oh Mars