Movie Blog: 'Babadook' Review
What makes the Australian horror movie The Babadook so spookily satisfying is that it isn't so much about a shadowy monster terrorizing a single mom and her little boy as it is about the psychological health of a family devastated by loss. Director Jennifer Kent shows in her full-length debut that she's able to take familiar horror tropes – boogiemen, demonic possession – and weave them through an experience that reverberates with feelings other than just fear.
She's able to do this because her characters aren't dolls whose only purpose is to die gruesomely. The mother, Amelia, (played by an excellent Essie Davis) and her almost 7-year-old son, Samuel (Noah Wiseman), are easy to identify with, because their main problems aren't supernatural, but grief, confusion, loneliness, and loss. Those feelings stem from an accident that killed Amelia's husband as she was being taken to the hospital to give birth to their son. As a result, Amelia and Samuel never celebrate the boy's birthday on the day, and he is constantly frustrated by the fact that he has no clue who is father was. He often spends entire nights screaming and making weapons (crossbows and backpack catapults) to combat the monsters he sees.
Things get a lot worse when Samuel pulls a mysterious book off the shelf for his bedtime story. Inside, menacing charcoal scribbles say, "You can't get rid of the Babadook," and there are pop-out pictures of a maniac-eyed, bat-like being in a top hat. It gets Samuel's mind racing, so Amelia hides it. But the book comes back. Then Samuel begins to get violent with other kids around him, and never stops talking (or frantically screaming) about the monster he claims to see. Pretty soon, one questions Amelia's sanity, as she starts seeing bugs all over her kitchen and finds shards of glass in her food. Her nighttime TV watching also begins to blend into her nightmares, while her son drives her crazy with his constant reminder to not "let the Babadook in." Eventually, we learn what that means.
Although it's intense and atmospheric, The Babadook isn't all that scary. There are a few jumpy moments, but it doesn't have you nervous about what's behind the next corner or under the bed. Instead, Kent brings out the terror in parenting, and the madness that can ensue. Yet, when Amelia and Samuel face their shared demon, the film takes on an almost uplifting aspect. The moral being: Love, understanding and openness can help us live with our monsters.
The Babadook is playing at St. Anthony Main in Minneapolis.
