Oscilloscope Laboratories, the film production and distribution company owned by Adam Yauch of Beastie Boys, will release in the US, the 2011 Cannes Film Festival competition entry WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN, from director Lynne Ramsay (RATCATCHER and MORVERN CALLAR). Oscilloscope will release WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN theatrically this Winter, accompanied by an awards campaign.
A suspenseful and psychologically gripping exploration into a parent dealing with her child doing the unthinkable, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN is told from the perspective of Eva, played by Tilda Swinton in a tour-de-force performance.
Always an ambivalent mother, Eva and Kevin have had a contentious relationship literally from Kevin’s birth. Kevin (Ezra Miller), now 15-years-old, escalates the stakes when he commits a heinous act, leaving Eva to grapple with her feelings of grief and responsibility, as well as the ire of the community-at-large. WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN explores nature vs. nurture on a whole new level as Eva’s own culpability is measured against Kevin’s innate evilness, while Ramsay’s masterful storytelling leaves enough moral ambiguity to keep the debate going.
Adam Yauch, head of Oscilloscope Laboratories said: “We are honored to be working with Lynne, Tilda, John, and Ezra to release this masterpiece—the most intense thriller I’ve seen since Polanski’s ROSEMARY’S BABY. I was on the edge of my seat throughout and it was clear I was in the capable hands of a master filmmaker, who I’m now proud to see join all our other great filmmakers as a member of the O-Scope family.”
With a screenplay by Lynne Ramsay & Rory Stewart Kinnear, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN based on the novel by Lionel Shriver. The film also stars John C. Reilly as Eva’s husband Franklin, and Ezra Miller in a breakout performance as the titular Kevin. Swinton’s recent credits include her acclaimed performance in Erick Zonca’s JULIA, which she received a Cesar Award nomination for Best Actress, and in Luca Guadagnino’s acclaimed film, I AM LOVE (Io Sono L’Amore), which she also produced.
Other Oscilloscope theatrical releases include Yauch’s GUNNIN’ FOR THAT #1 SPOT, Irena Salina’s FLOW, Kelly Reichardt’s WENDY AND LUCY starring Michelle Williams, So Yong Kim’s TREELESS MOUNTAIN, the Academy Award(R)-nominated THE GARDEN from Scott Hamilton Kennedy, Anders Ostergaard’s Academy Award(R)-nominated BURMA VJ, Nati Baratz’s UNMISTAKEN CHILD, Oren Moverman’s Academy Award(R)-nominated THE MESSENGER starring Woody Harrelson, Ben Foster, and Samantha Morton, Henrik Ruben Genz’s Danish thriller TERRIBLY HAPPY, Michel Gondry’s personal family documentary THE THORN IN THE HEART, Jules Dassin’s classic THE LAW, Yael Hersonski’s award-winning WWII documentary A FILM UNFINISHED, Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman’s HOWL starring James Franco as Allen Ginsberg, Jalmari Helander’s Christmas fantasy RARE EXPORTS: A CHRISTMAS TALE and Oscar(R)-nominated director Dana Adam Shapiro’s feature film debut MONOGAMY starring Chris Messina and Rashida Jones. Upcoming releases include Kelly Reichardt’s Western drama MEEK’S CUTOFF starring Michelle Williams, Bruce Greenwood, Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, and Shirley Henderson, and James Franco’s directorial debut SATURDAY NIGHT, which covers a week on the set of Saturday Night Live.