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The Babadook Movie Review

The Babadook is a 2014 Australian psychological horror film directed by Jennifer Kent and starring Essie Davis in the main role. It’s one of the best horrors of the decade.

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“Why don’t you go eat shit?“

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Sam, a young boy, is convinced of a monster’s presence in his home, due to certain disturbing visions. His erratic behavior concerns his single mother, Amelia, who spirals into a state of paranoia. This movie is already regarded as a horror classic for a reason – it’s both really creepy and psychologically quite insightful. It’s a mature story that is timeless in its appeal.

The titular creature is quite eerie. Yes, we only see very brief flashes of him, but that was a great choice as it made the film more ambiguous. Whether or not this is all happening inside the mother’s head is left for the viewers to decide. The resulting story is quite dramatic while still being very much a horror feature, especially reminiscent of 60s horror cinema that was more psychological and ambiguous in approach.

The film also clearly operates in the realm of fairy tales and mythology. In its emphasis on children’s books, child’s fears of made-up creatures and some eerie creature feature thrills, it genuinely resembled ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ in its feel and tone. But it also has its light moments which pleasantly countered all the prevailing darkness.

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The Babadook’s best aspect is the script and how thematically rich it is. It is about single mothers and just how difficult it is for them to raise their child without the father. It’s also highly disturbing and audaciously authentic in its depiction of a mother who loses it after being troubled by her psychologically disturbed child to the point that she even considered hurting him. It was a horrifying, but honest portrayal of how sometimes even the mother-child relationships can turn violent in the worst circumstances.

It’s a provocative movie in that regard, but it will undoubtedly prove to be relatable for female audiences. Essie Davis helped make her character even easier to root for. Her performance in this movie was absolutely incredible and quite nuanced. She goes through so many different mood and emotions, delivering a powerhouse turn that really should have made her a bigger star. The Academy snubbing her amazing work here again pinpointed their troublesome lack of respect directed toward this genre.

Noah Wiseman was very good himself. He delivered one of the better child acting performances in the decade and the character is well written and quite realistic. Through his character the movie also dealt with grief and just how devastating its effects are on a family. This is something that now unfortunately is very relatable to me personally and the movie emphasizing how families are broken when one member dies was very well handled.

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Jennifer Kent directed The Babadook with a lot of style and also substance. The film flows well, though the first half is somewhat slower and less engaging to watch. But the directing, acting and even the creature design are all superb and so is the film’s score, cinematography and overall dark atmosphere that really grips you into submission. The movie isn’t truly scary, but it has its very effective horror moments in the third act that are excellently executed. Kent would go on to direct the superb period piece ‘The Nightingale’ five years later, but I am still eagerly looking forward to her next accomplished feature.