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We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011): Film vs Book
Film · 2011 · Directed by Lynne Ramsay · Starring Tilda Swinton, Ezra Miller
About the film
A mother looks back on her son's childhood and tries to understand what went wrong in their family.
How close is it to the book?
Close to the bookThe film turns the novel's letters into a pattern of memories, colours and fragments, and keeps the book's dread.
Read or watch first?
The book's letters give a more direct view of the mother's guilt and doubt.
What the book gives you
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
A gripping, thought-provoking story that keeps you turning pages and talking afterward.
Who will like it: Readers who like bold, unsettling psychological novels told through letters.