We Need To Talk About Kevin

Just finally saw one of my most anticipated films of the past year or so, We Need To Talk About Kevin.

I was wild about the structure and the way the story was able to still shock me despite how much I had heard and read about it. Tilda's performance was as good as I was expecting - which says quite a lot.

I wasn't sure what they were trying to say by making the kid so one-dimensionally evil - almost in a stereotypical or horror-movie way. I wanted to feel more conflicted about her parenting. Maybe it reflects poorly on me that I didn't not find much complexity in the mother/son relationship.

Any hesitations like that are so far outweighed by how gripped I was by the journey of the main character, especially because of the way the story is told. Also I can't not mention how much I loved the music which added a curious extra layer.

It wasn't as disturbing as I was expecting. Am I truly fucked up, or just becoming more desensitized?

Did anyone read the book? How do you find it compares?