Summary

The movie We Need to Talk About Kevin directed by Lynn Ramsay begins with a confusing montage of different images and sounds, such as the main character Eva participating in a tomato festival in her youth. The images all have an ominous feeling.

Eva then wakes up to find that her shabby house has been vandalized and red paint was thrown on it. Eva goes to interview for a position at a travel agency. She keeps remembering events from her past, particularly a day when she was calling her husband Franklin to tell him they should try to work on their marriage, but she was interrupted by a terrible event happening at the school her son was attending. The details of the event are vague but there were police sirens and ambulances as well as a large crowd of people around the school as Eva looked on with a horrified expression. 

Everyone in the travel agency stares at Eva when they hear her name, but Eva eventually gets the job. Outside, she runs into two women who verbally abuse Eva and punch her in the face. A passer-by offers to help Eva, but Eva declines and says it was her fault, even though the attack seemed unprovoked. After arriving home, Eva remembers meeting her husband and getting pregnant with her first child, Kevin. She remembers how disconnected from motherhood she felt. The next day, Eva goes to work and then leaves early to go to a prison where she is visiting Kevin who is an inmate there. They do not talk. 

Eva remembers that Kevin wa...