‘Good luck, good luck’ muttered one woman as the lights went down before the start of Lynne Ramsay‘s We Need to Talk About Kevin. Adapted from the book of the same name by Lionel Shriver, the film has become one of the most-talked about new movies of 2011, and forces us to confront some of the darker points of parenthood.

Told using flashbacks, We Need to Talk About Kevin follows Eva (Tilda Swinton), as she struggles to come to terms with the murderous actions of her son, Kevin (Ezra Miller) and questioning what she could have done differently, while she attempts to rebuild her life in a hostile and unforgiving environment.

Ramsay’s long-awaited adaptation of Shriver’s best-selling novel, is, as one might imagine, not a film that a viewer can enjoy in the traditional sense. Dealing with a number of complex and highly emotional issues, the film is a dark, uncomfortable and uncompromising view of modern motherhood and the relationship between a mother and her child. While Kevin’s actions haunt the film, Ramsay rejects any ideas of sensationalism and violence, and instead focuses on the character of Eva, and it’s through her past, her memories, and the bleak reality of her present, that the film’s real, and most important themes, emerge. Under Ramsay’s careful and considerate direction, the main topic of the film is a complete and utter loss of control, as Eva falls pregnant, gives birth to, and then struggles to raise a child that she was perhaps not ready for in the first place. It’s this feeling of a lack of control, combined with a constant feeling of dread and claustrophobia, that gives this film such a powerful, and completely unforgettable edge. The acting from the cast is faultless, with Swinton and Miller perfectly encapsulating the love/hate relationship between the warring mother and teenage son. Brutal, unforgiving and unnerving, We Need to Talk About Kevin is a completely original and altogether different film that needs to be seen to be truly appreciated and understood.