The Babadook

Starring: Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Hayley McElhinney, Daniel Henshall
Directed by: Jennifer Kent
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller
2014

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A mother (Essie Davis) and her son (Noah Wiseman) are traumatized by Mr. Babadook, a supernatural entity that appeared after they read a child's book about him.

Review:

Tim: Whenever a good horror movie comes along, I always talk about the limits of the genre. In recent years, there have been some very effective horror movies. While the genre itself still gets a bad name, I'm starting to believe that is more of a historical complaint than a truly contemporary one. Yes, too many bad horror movies roll out every year, but there's many people doing impressive things within the genre. The Babadook is one of those examples. I might not have loved it quite as much as many critics, but this is an exceptionally strong effort and a very, very good movie.

While the basic premise- a mother a son are terrorized by a supernatural entity- has been done dozens of times before, it feels fresh and reinvigorated in the hands of writer/director Jennifer Kent, making her feature film directorial debut. The film rarely uses cheap tricks to scare the audience. I hate when a horror movie uses a jump scare- that's about as cheap as it gets and you might flinch in the moment, but your brain registers it as a weak attempt to frighten you. This movie tells a genuinely frightening story with fearful imagery, unsettling sounds, and by putting characters you understand in harm's way. In short, it's a legitimately scary movie. That is much harder to achieve than it might seem. This might not be as unforgettably scary as some films, but it's not an easy movie to watch, either. I really appreciated how uncomfortable this movie made me.

A great deal of that has to do with the characters. The Babadook succeeds where so many horror films fails by treating its characters like human beings, instead of fodder for the death machine. Small detail but critical. The main characters here are a mother and son. While that's been done countless times before, they actually feel like real people. This fractured family is dysfunctional. Those scenes are very hard to watch- you have a mother deeply depressed, buried underneath a mountain of grief after losing her husband. She has an unruly, weird, difficult child. She's trying to raise him, but is completely lost, overwhelmed, and exhausted to the bone. You feel bad for her. Essie Davis does a tremendous job of bringing this character to life- I can't remember ever seeing a better depiction of a character at the end of their rope. She just looks completely beat down and exhausted. It's amazing to see, and it makes your heart go out to her. Noah Wiseman does a great job as Samuel. It was so interesting because I really couldn't stand his character. He was this whiny, selfish, scared, odd little boy. I know I can't really blame him, but they depict all the ways he inadvertently makes his mother's life difficult, and I felt like strangling the little boy. The way Kent depicted his character was terrific- it's not often I feel like violence towards children in a movie. Despite his annoying qualities, you still have some concern for him when the Babadook shows up. That element is a big reason this film is so successful.

I also loved the symbolism behind the Babadook. Yes, it's this frightening, evil entity, but it really represents the dark power of grief. I love that you could watch this movie and on the surface, it's a good supernatural horror movie. However, if you want to explore deeper and contemplate Mr. Babadook as the mother's grief, you open up a fascinating psychological look into a person struggling greatly. The ending is especially poignant when viewed through this lens. I loved the ability to dig deeper into this story and what it all meant.

The movie did a good job showing the Babadook, even though there wasn't a huge budget for this film. On occasion, the special effects looked a little cheap, but for the most part, things were creepy and frightening to see. This movie definitely is more frightening when it hints but doesn't totally reveal things. When the revelations come, they are fairly unsettling to see. I do wish the film had a slightly bigger budget for the special effects, though.

All in all, The Babadook i just short of a great horror movie. A bigger budget and more compelling effects would have helped. I would have liked a bit more exploration into the Babadook as grief- the psychological aspect of the film was great, but I wanted more. It could also have been more frightening throughout. Still, that takes nothing away from one of the best horror movies of 2014. This is a film that you certainly need to see.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Sinister, The Ring, Insidious