sure it will.

Motherhood...what can you do when your son is acting strange? Can you prevent his future actions? Is another sibling change him? Dilemma with many question unanswered...

Haunting, provocative and very, very well directed. Never seen anything quite like it. It's still pretty accessible and in no way is it a chore to watch, like so many movies of this ilk/genre are. Swinton IS a revelation. Ezra Miller is like a young John Travolta and someone to watch. WNTTAK is worth watching, followed up with a discussion on the nature of evil. Not a date movie, though, that's for sure.

DON'T, whatever you do, read any summaries of this movie's plot. Beware of any spoilers: I feel sorry for whoever reads any summary before seeing this film. It's made to be seen free of such outlines, as a whodunit where you're clueless and stay that way for its first half hour, possibly longer, while trying to piece together what's going on. Half the joy's in this gradualism, with the clues nicely laid out via a well-chosen collection of odd, sometimes near-incoherent scenes. Despite that mental fog, the direction also manages to get across quite clearly that it will dissipate, as well as that this is no surreal plot but a set of bizarre circumstances warranting the befuddlement, since it fits the plot perfectly. Much about this film is also cringe-worthy, yet it's never a tawdry emotional grab. A horror movie as much as a psychological thriller, it raises issues about nature vs nurture, and whether something beyond parental incapacity makes us tick. No simple answer emerges, so the unfolding is the nub. Tilda Swinton's acting is top-rate, her androgyny perfectly fitting this particular part: in several scenes it compounds the requisite discomfort. She was reportedly nervous about playing a mother without being one. Yet even her way of holding the infant alone speaks volumes, contributing to the visceral impact. Everyone else in the cast is also at least good, albeit never on her level. Ezra Miller, as Kevin, is clearly dealt the weakest hand: scant dialogue and just growling try to pass for character. Surely better could have been scripted for this part, and the director might have considered something subtle, for balance. John C. Reilly, as Swinton's go-with-the-flow husband, is the movie's second weakness. His laconic character verges on absence, and one teeters between considering such obtuseness likely, however implausible, or outright disbelief. Together with Swinton, most aspects of the direction and photography/art direction call for special mention, with the techniques to unravel the plot being especially intriguing. One of those rare films that may send you back to the source novel (by Lionel Shriver) to fill in the lost detail and for another look at the artefact in its original form. It got a Palme d'Or nomination for best film at Cannes, and Tilda Swinton was up for a best actress Golden Globe award. Both were well deserved. Despite the mentioned flaws, well recommended.

This is a fantastic, thought provoking movie. As a professional in the field of mental health I asked myself what we could have offered this family.

Read some of the book and saw all of the movie. Very thought provoking. Very adult. Mother was very alone in this but I think she was trying. Also wonder what happens next. If she is right and Kevin is out in a few years... where does he go, what does he do....does being his mother make her his hostage? Will be thinking about the issues this raises for some time.

Sick and gross...but mostly sick

This is a film that is best seen without knowing anything about it. The beginning is extremely unusual, the structure is with a lot of flashbacks, and you are trying to fathom what is going on. Stuff happens, a lot of bad stuff. This is one of the best films that I have seen so far this year. Actually, it seems like it is very appropriate, but there are going to be a lot of people that want to deny the prescience of the author and director. The film received a Cannes Palme d'Or nomination for best film and Tilda Swinton was nominated for a Golden Globe for best actress. Both deserved.

Very interesting and VERY disturbing movie, especially after the Newtown, Conn. elementary school massacre. There are such strong parallels: giving deadly weapons to a teenager who is obviously disturbed. NOBODY cared about what the mother was going through, including the father, but the society turns against her and puts all the blame for what he did on her. I haven't read the book, I guess I'll have to, because the movie seems to be more of an illustration to the book rather than re-telling the whole story. Just a note added later: This movie reminds me of a novel "The Fifth Child" by Doris Lessing, published in 1988, before the concept of autism was introduced.

the colour red, the landscape of parenting-being a child-wanting to be heard-not knowing how to ask-not knowing how to tell...thecolourred