Directed by Lynne Ramsay

Starring Tilda Swinton, John C Reilly

Any filmmaker takes a risk adapting a bestseller, but Lynne Ramsay (Ratcatcher, Morvern Callar) is more audacious than most.

Fans of Lionel Shriver’s 2003 novel – about dysfunctional parenting and Columbine-style school killings – may be surprised to see the book’s analytical coolness replaced by an impressionistic approach.

Tilda Swinton plays Eva, who puts her career on hold for motherhood, only to find that her progeny is a problem child in excelsis.

Is Kevin a monster, and has Eva made him that? Ramsay’s …Kevin is an intense film, powered by sublime photography, and Jonny Greenwood’s score.

Swinton is as mesmerising as ever, although the show is stolen by the two Kevins – teenager Ezra Miller and youngster Jasper Newell.

The only sour note is a sometimes overstated take on middle-American crassness, but otherwise this is a powerful comeback from an individual Brit director.

Jonathan Romney