Originally written May 3, 2017

The Babadook is probably one of the most brilliant horror movies to come out in the last decade or so. It’s a movie that has genuine horror elements to it with a disturbing story, rather than relying on any cheap jump scares or fake-outs. I feel like I’m particularly a fan of it even if only because it reminded me a lot of my favorite horror movie of all time, The Shining.

To that end, the movie centers around a single, widowed mother, Amelia, and her 6 year old son, Samuel. Samuel’s father died on the way to the hospital when Samuel was being born, and this tragic death has left a permanent stain on the family, to the point where they can’t even celebrate Samuel’s birthday on the actual day. It’s clear from the beginning that Samuel has some emotional issues, mainly manifesting itself by acting out in angry outbursts, or being obsessed with hunting monsters. However, as the movie progresses, Amelia starts to feel a sinister presence around her after reading a children’s book to Samuel called The Babadook.

To reiterate my earlier comparison to The Shining, The Babadook misleads you in the beginning by making you think you need to worry about Samuel, when the real danger lies with Amelia (just like how Danny has problems in The Shining, but Jack is the one that goes crazy). My only real problem with the movie lies in the beginning of it. While it is slow to start, I don’t really have a problem with that, because it’s to build story, characters, and atmosphere. However, because of the misdirection in the movie, we’re shown a lot of Samuel at first, who just winds up coming off as annoying. This is part of the story of his character, as you see the effects of him constantly getting on his mother’s nerves later in the movie, but it’s irritating to watch as a viewer too, and I just can’t help but feel there might have been a better way to present his character.

However, the rest of the movie is pure genius. Some of the biggest complaints I’ve heard about the movie (from general audiences, not critics) is that the monster (the Babadook) doesn’t have a real presence in the movie, and that the movie could have been the same without it. While I don’t ever like to use the argument of “you just didn’t get it” since movies should be able to convey what they’re going for, I really do think it stands here, because the Babadook is very important to the movie, and it’s intentionally supposed to be subtle rather than shoving the metaphor in your face. See, what the movie is really all about is the destructive effects that depression and grief can have on a person if left unchecked, and so the Babadook is just a physical representation of that grief. If you replace the word “Babadook” with “depression” throughout the movie, it all makes complete sense. So, I definitely argue against the idea that the Babadook monster didn’t have a strong presence in the movie, because it’s present in every scene.

Other than its ingenuity in its themes, I just found the movie to be extremely entertaining, with some well-done scares. As I said earlier, Amelia starts to become more unhinged throughout the movie instead of Samuel, and so watching her descent into madness is extremely poignant and well-done. I’ve never seen actress Essie Davis in anything else before, but she completely knocks it out of the park here. Not to keep comparing it to The Shining, but just like how Jack Nicholson becoming insane in that movie is what gives the movie so much of its livelihood, the same is true about Essie Davis in The Babadook. She absolutely kills it, and her acting alone is worth the watch. I’d say that anyone that’s a horror fan who hasn’t seen this movie is doing themselves an extreme disservice.

4.5/5