The Babadook (2014)

The Babadook (2014) is a horrific story about a single mother who is plagued by the violent death of her husband, and her son who just can’t seem to behave. He seemingly sees monsters in the very house that they live in, but that is just his imagination, right?

The Babadook diverts from normal horror stories by not using cheap gimmicks and tricks to scare the viewer, but follows instead is a far more deep and gripping story where the main focus is on the mother and her relationship with her son and friends. Soon enough, she starts feeling isolated when people diverge and stops listening to her. She is then left to handle her son herself and has to deal with everything from finding a new school for him to a house that is falling apart.

As the story progresses, there is a darkness growing between the mother and her son, which leads to something like resentment or even pure hatred in the end. All this, combined with a deep feeling of hopelessness makes The Babadook creature nothing more than just a nuisance when making its subtle initial appearance. As the story develops, the “monster” gains an increasingly strong influence over her life, until it just becomes too much to handle.

While this is not a mainstream horror movie with hot teenagers, it is something else entirely. It is genuine and the characters are believable and disturbed, and the movie has an underlying feeling of dread and helplessness from start to finish.

Score: 8/10 (Great)

Originally published at johnny.chadda.se on July 23, 2015.