The Babadook (2014)

Directed by: Jennifer Kent
Country: Australia

Movie Review: “The Babadook” is a curious new horror movie, written and directed by former actress and emergent director, Jennifer Kent, based on her short film “Monster” dated from 2005. The story focuses on Amelia (Essie Davis) who still lives in the grief of her husband’s death occurred seven years ago in a car accident, and struggles to cope with the strange attitudes of her six-year-old son, Samuel (Noah Wiseman). The latter has a special taste for magic, monsters and the supernatural, in a way that his mother considers abnormal. Samuel’s morbid behavior suddenly increases when he finds a dusty old book in his shelf called ‘Mr. Babadook’. Amelia, clearly in a verge of a breakdown, eventually becomes influenced by her kid’s precise descriptions of Babadook, the monster with top hat and long sharp nails, who threatens in his book and, according to Samuel, wanders through her house. Truly impressive the almost animated sequence of images when Amelia reads the reconstructed book collected at her doorstep, while other scenes mix ridiculousness and creepiness in a smart way, accomplishing the main goal of conveying tension at every frame. The young Noah Wiseman was brilliant as the brave, pale Samuel, the only one whose love can save his mom. This one has everything to provide a creepy night for the fans of the genre, however its finale was the only aspect that didn’t quite work for me. It’s a case to ask if Babadook just needed to be fed to let himself be tamed so easily. Original yet strained, this Australian devilish fairytale deserves attention.