Review of The Babadook (2014) by Melissa G — 06 Oct 2015

Now this...this one is something else.

"The Babadook," a supremely effective entry from the Land Down Under, is a genuine horror movie. There is nothing cheap or inauthentic in its scares. It earns them. It earns them through its build-up, atmosphere, highly-developed characters, and some powerhouse acting in its lead role. There are little-to-no "boo!" moments, no instances of the jarring, musical cues of the soundtrack that are so prevalent in horror movies these days, the gore is kept to a minimum...Hitchcock and Carpenter would be proud.

First time writer/director Jennifer Kent has really accomplished something here. "The Babadook" is better than recent entries "The Conjuring," "Insidious," "Sinister," and "It Follows," all of which I happened to like. She displays a profound touch for building a sense of dread, allowing the suspense to seep into her film naturally. This is yet another movie in which we never really see much; the titular baddie is mostly glimpsed in shadow, a wraith-like entity that sometimes seems formless. Indeed, the clearest look we ever get at Mr. Babadook is in the illustrations of the children's pop-up book from which he seems to originate, which is actually quite unsettling. It's the little things like these, deriving tension from the images in a children's book, that display Kent's talent.

The story is quite simple, as is usually the case. Widowed mother Amelia (Essie Davis) is struggling with her life, trying to manage her demanding nursing job with raising her six-year-old son Samuel (Noah Wiseman). Samuel is a curious, quirky child, the kind of kid who enjoys visual illusions and magic tricks. As such, he tends to have an overactive imagination, and he believes there is an invisible monster hiding in their house. This is exacerbated when he finds a mysterious pop-up book titled "The Babadook" in his room and insists his mother read it to him. The contents are disturbing, as the Babadook appears to be a kind of sinister bogeyman that invades its victims' lives before consuming them. An example of a line from the book: "If it's in a word, or it's in a look, you can't get rid of the Babadook.".

Hardly children's material, especially since it's complete with creepy pop-up illustrations. The aforementioned line also appears to be eerily prescient, as no matter what Amelia does to the book, it somehow keeps findings its way back to their home. Samuel begins talking about the Babadook, believing that it's real and that it's really trying to get both he and his mother. And soon after, Amelia begins seeing and hearing some strange things...

Generally speaking, the film falls in the realm of traditional horror, but there are more than a few psychological horror elements as well. Amelia is damaged goods; haunted by her husband's death, struggling with the hardships of single parenthood (and especially with a child as rambunctious as Samuel), dealing with the pity and condescension of her judgmental sister and her friends...it's no wonder she's beginning to feel overwhelmed, and it's completely understandable (yet no less horrible) when she finally snaps at her son in anger. And then, of course, there's this whole Babadook thing...is it any wonder she begins to doubt her own sanity?

And it's those metaphorical aspects that make "The Babadook" doubly effective. It's not a stretch to view the demonic phantasm as a manifestation of Amelia's pent-up frustrations with her fractured life and her sometimes turbulent relationship with her son. Indeed, there are times in which the specter seems to represent her repressed feelings. I'm going to avoid spoilers here, but the ending of the movie takes on a new light when you look at it from this angle. Do we all have a Babadook inside us? It's rather strange the way the book suddenly turned up in Samuel's room, isn't it? And of course it's even stranger when it keeps coming back after it's been discarded. There are supernatural reasons for this, obviously, but you could look at them through a psychological lens as well.

It's certainly unexpected that such deep material can come from a spooky ghost story, but "The Babadook" utilizes traditional horror to tell the story of a mother putting the pieces of her life back together. It's undeniably scary, make no mistake about that, but it's also, surprisingly, profound and moving. Such a thing is rare. (M. Night Shyamalan's "The Sixth Sense" is another example of this, although some might categorize that film as more of a family drama with horror elements, rather than the other way around. Don't think I agree.).

Of course, "The Babadook" works on these levels due to the strong character work supplied by Kent and the acting that brings it to life. The Academy has always had a notorious habit of overlooking the horror genre (and comedy as well, for that matter), so it's not a surprise that Essie Davis didn't get a Best Actress nod last year, but she most certainly deserved one. Amelia is a fascinating, flawed character, projecting both vulnerability and resolve, sometimes simultaneously. We don't always agree with her actions, but we can always understand where she's coming from. Davis is wonderful to watch, and she serves as proof that it is possible to give a great, award-worthy performance in a horror movie. Young Noah Wiseman also deserves some commendation; child roles in horror movies tend to be either grating or exploitative, dependent on the role they're playing, but Samuel feels like a real boy as opposed to a plot device. Sure, he's a bit annoying on occasion, but a.) that's the point, and b.) what six year old isn't?

"The Babadook" is of a truly rare breed; the very effective horror movie that also elicits a heartfelt response. It works just as well as a straight-forward fright fest, a psychological examination of the mind, and a testament to the bond of family. You can view it any which way and come away impressed. Or, like me, you can view it in all ways and come away even more so.

But whichever way you choose to view it, you may not want to do so alone at night...