The Babadook review.
Trauma horror came into vogue with the release of The Babadook ten years ago today. Don’t heed the warning. Let him in.
Classic movie reviews will contain spoilers.
The Babadook
Directed by Jennifer Kent
Written by Jennifer Kent
Starring Essie Davis and Noah Wiseman
The Babadook Review
2014 was a big year for horror. Housebound and The Taking of Deborah Logan came out of nowhere to critical acclaim. Films like Oculus and The Town That Dreaded Sundown exceeded expectations. What We Do in the Shadows and Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead provided ample laughs in the horror-comedy department. Even silly comedies like Zombeavers and WolfCop were working. Unfortunately, the box office receipts moved towards some duds. Annabelle and Ouija brought in the big bucks despite being…well, terrible. They’d both end up with superior sequels so even that kind of worked out. More importantly, three of the best horror movies of the 2010’s arrived this year.
Ana Luly Amipour’s A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows. And Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook. To be fair, I’m cheating a little. It Follows debuted at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival…but we wouldn’t see it in theaters until 2015. It’s still listed as a 2014 movie, however. Who am I to argue with history? It Follows was an American production. Amipour’s stunning feature film debut was shot in Southern California despite its Iranian setting and Persian language. The Babadook is an Australian film…which means, despite being shot 8 thousand miles away from the shooting location of A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night…it’s in English. Movie magic, baby.
The three movies themselves are quite different. We have a sexually transmitted ghost, a coming-of-age Iranian vampire romance…and a grief monster. Tell me that horror movies aren’t the best. Three completely original films by fresh filmmakers. Only Mitchell had helmed a feature film before. It Follows was his first foray into the horror genre. With a sequel set to begin production…it won’t be his last. Amipour has stuck to genre work. Mostly thrillers…though she did make a solid installment of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Kent followed up The Babadook with the 2018 thriller The Nightingale. She also directed the best installment of Cabinet of Curiosities…again starring Babadook lead Essie Davis.
Essie Davis is the best part of The Babadook. There is no shortage of great parts…Davis is extraordinary. As the grief stricken with no time heal Amelia Vanek, Davis delivers one of the most complex, memorable and unshakable performances in horror history. Without her, The Babadook would still have its share of frightening moments and a wonderfully executed grief metaphor. With her The Babadook is a total classic. Amelia’s emotional decline is the heart of the movie. It couldn’t have been portrayed with more believability or terror than Davis gives to it.
The other thing that Kent (who also wrote the screenplay) nails here is how to end a trauma story. She fashions a masterful finish…perfectly understanding the monster she has unleashed. As a metaphor for grief, Kent doesn’t let the Babadook become consumed by its movie friendly avatar. Yes, there is a strange little creature-man climbing on the ceiling. Sure, there is a spooky children’s book that summons it. In the end, Kent restores all the antagonist’s power by leaning into what it represents.
Grief can’t be defeated. It can’t be dispelled. The scariest thing about grief is that it is something that you will never be fully rid of. Kent allows the grief its place as Amelia’s companion. Something that must be fed and cared for…something that will always be inside. But it doesn’t have to run your life. If you take the care seriously…it just becomes a part of your life…not a demon in control of it.
For as brilliant as Davis and Kent are here…The Babadook isn’t without its rough moments. Amelia’s son Samuel can be tough to take. It fits the story. A troubled child adds to her stress, prevents self-care and shows the difficulties her husband’s untimely death saddled her with. The problem is that it is incredibly effective. A lot of The Babadook is spent being purposely annoyed by a screaming child. What works for the narrative doesn’t always work for the entertainment. The movie does gain control over the situation when it needs to. As Amelia’s mental health declines, Sam becomes the story’s protagonist. There’s a full character switch at play here. From unrepentant demon child and doting mother to heroic son and possessed parent.
It’s a kind of magic trick. Davis becomes absolutely terrifying through the eyes of her seemingly helpless son. He finds the courage and innovation to free his mother from the Babadook. A redemption for a character who, though he wasn’t the actual antagonist beforehand, required one. Noah Wiseman, who plays Sam, does a terrific job with what’s asked of him. It’s not his fault what’s required is portraying the most annoying child this side of Anakin Skywalker. The difference, of course, being that The Babadook does it on purpose. In a way, the annoyance is a compliment to Kent. She’s firing on so many cylinders here that even her choice to annoy you works too well.
The most memorable moments in The Babadook (aside from that perfect ending) are among the best the genre has ever offered. The first appearance of The Babadook, crawling on Amelias ceiling as she cowers in fear is one of the most effective scares out there. At one point Davis unleashes a scream so powerful and long that it’s probably a record. She blows past Scream Queen and takes the title Scream Empress. It’s a moment that you will never forget. One that reportedly cost her the use of her voice for several days afterwards.
The Babadook is one of the movies that brought us the horrible “elevated horror” moniker. A distinction created by critics who had to find a way to explain how a genre they’ve spent their career’s crapping on could provide a film they had no choice but to acknowledge as great. I hate the term. I hate that using it immediately leads to you understanding exactly what movies I’m talking about. Genres don’t need class systems. Some horror is great. Some horror is terrible. Same as it is with comedies, dramas, action movies and anything else. Sometimes the bad ones are good. Sometimes the good ones are boring. The Babadook is great. Not elevated. Not prestige. It’s just a great scary movie. One of the best of a great 2014. One of the best in modern horror. With a lead performance that is one of the best of all time.
Scare Value
Essie Davis’s powerhouse performance made The Babadook an instant classic. Ten years later, it stands as one of horror’s greatest performances. The film’s trauma metaphor finds a pitch perfect conclusion after a wild and frightening ride. The annoying kid trope is necessary for the plot…but it doesn’t make it any more enjoyable. Even if everything else proves to stand the test of time.
4.5/5
The Babadook Links
Streaming on Shudder
Rent/Buy on VOD from Fandango at Home and Amazon
Buy on Blu-Ray from Amazon
