Directed by:
Jennifer KentScreenplay:
Jennifer KentCinematography:
Radosław ŁadczukComposer:
Jed KurzelCast:
Essie Davis, Daniel Henshall, Noah Wiseman, Tiffany Lyndall-Knight, Carmel Johnson, Hayley McElhinney, Barbara West, Benjamin Winspear, Peta Shannon (more)Plots(1)
Six years after the death of her husband, Amelia struggles to discipline her "out-of-control" six-year-old Samuel – a son she finds difficult to love. Samuel's dreams are plagued by a monster he believes is coming to kill them both. When a disturbing storybook called "The Babadook" turns up at their house, Samuel is convinced that the Babadook is the creature he's been dreaming about. And when Amelia begins to see glimpses of the creature herself, it slowly dawns on her that the thing Samuel has been warning her about may well be real. (Sundance Selects)
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Reviews (7)
What initially looked like the scariest horror film of the year ends up being a solid psycho thriller reminding me of We Need to Talk About Kevin. Great acting, perfect cinematography and editing, solid soundtrack (the Babadook's voice is goosebump-inducing) and it's also decently psychedelic. Too bad the film isn't spiced up with some jump scares as well, then it could be considered a modern day nightmare. 75%
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Visually and sonically refined, this Australian variation on the night-time haunted house motif is made distinctive by its editing. The film plays powerfully on the unhappy mother/problematic son relationship and their lonely world after the loss of their husband/father, and delivers the haunting quite nicely in technical terms. But the characters’ reaction to it is strange, as if it’s not a life-threatening curse, but merely a seasonal metaphorical embodiment of a lousy time that can be endured through force of will. According to the director, this is most likely a more interesting and “artistic” take on the substance of the genre, but I did not find it entirely satisfying.
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In some ways it feels like a B-movie and minimalist genre original from the hands of Jennifer Kent, who, like in The Nightingale, may not have a spectacular budget and therefore no visual freedom, but she compensates for it with atmosphere and directorial skill. The Babadook is pure psychological hell and emotional decomposition of both the viewer and the main characters in a field of 90 minutes that manages to conjure up an unexpectedly dense atmosphere, induce goosebumps and evoke unprecedented levels of paranoia and fear. I like the play with the sound, where the Babadook's voice and some of the more intense scenes have a great backing and are creepy in headphones. I like the hidden symbolism of the whole "scarecrow" thing, and I like the overall work on the film, which manages to frighten, evoke deeper metaphorical thinking, and even cleverly hook and intrigue. The further the film gets, the more it tightens up in its explicitness, and although the finale is a little odd, it delivers its point coherently and in a way that is digestible to the viewer. Great.
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This is definitely one of the most interesting horror films of the last few years, even in the way the various scary scenes are presented. It's not something that plays at having jump scares; it's different, new, and original in that sense. You feel like killing the kid the whole time, but he fits perfectly into the situation and story with his mother.
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Honestly, I don't think the film was all that bad, but any chance of a higher rating from me was ruined by that spoiled brat with a stress-free upbringing. I kept my fingers crossed for Babadook the whole time, hoping that he had a slow and painful death prepared for Samuel. What surprised me was the therapeutic effect of the monster on the main character, she looked much more relaxed at the end :-)
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