The Babadook

A mother (Essie Davis (The Matrix sequels)) reads her six year old son a bedtime story called Mister Babadook, which seems like a weirdo book right from the outset but the title is so cute sounding that I’m sure she thought there would eventually be rainbows and a message about sharing or some shit.  The kid gets rightly freaked out because all the Babadook wants to do is scare the piss out of you.  Then they both start to see pieces of the creature around and hear him move about.  That’s as far as I’m willing to take the plot description.  It’s a difficult movie to describe actually so I’ll leave it right there.

This badass horror movie is one meticulously crafted piece of cinema.  They really put a lot of thought into every aspect of production and it shows.  First time director Jennifer Kent did an excellent job.  Her attention to detail doesn’t come off stiff though.  She gives off a Hitchcockian or John Carpenter-y (a la Halloween) vibe in that you feel like you’re in good hands that know just how to manipulate your feelings and senses.

Visually this is a cold ass picture.  Most of the time is spent in the mother and son’s house.  It’s painted in a dull gray-ish blue-ish color, the floors are hardwood and all of the furniture and linens match the paintjob.  A lot of the time it’s almost like they shot it in black and white but I’ll get into that a little more later.  There’s almost no modern technology in the house either.  A tube TV is pretty much as advanced as they get (although she does mention watching DVD’s so I guess they have a player).  It gets to be a bit claustrophobic stuck in that gloomy house for so long but, of course, that’s what they were going for.

The performances are fucking outstanding.  Essie Davis is incredibly sad, frustrated, angry, maniacal and peaceful all throughout.  She can turn on a dime too being placid one moment and then deranged the next.  She deserves some sort of award, like one of those Oscar doodads or something.  The kid who plays the son does a great job too because he somehow goes from being an unlikeable little shit at first to warming your heart by the end.  He does scared real well too bringing it over the top a bunch of the time.  Or maybe it’s appropriate considering what’s going on.

One of the most refreshing things about this horror movie is the restrained use of effects and the complete absence of jump scares.  I saw an interview with Kent and she said she absolutely did not want to do jump scares because you feel ripped off.  She even mentions that most American horror films (this is an Australian production) don’t give their audience enough credit.  Amen sister.  You’ve gotta be smarter than bullshit jump scares and piling on the excessive gore.  Kent uses imagery (and some auditory cues) to convey a shitload of creepiness.  It’s mostly very simple effects but man do they work.

So to pull all of this together you get a modern day 20’s horror picture.  The lack of technology, the near black and white color palette, the design of the Babadook, the mostly in-camera effects work, the deficiency of blood and etc.  It totally works.  Interestingly this idea started out as a short film called Monster which has an even greater 20’s feel.  Kent kinda hits you over the head with it though in that one so it was a good idea to scale it back for the feature.    

And I find this film to be genuinely creepy.  There are only a couple of others that sorta get to me a little: The Shining, Dracula (1992) and to a lesser extent The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Psycho (and yes I’m aware that I’m putting this movie in such esteemed company).  There’s just something about that Babadook fella that has me second guessing dark hallways and children’s books ‘n shit.

Sure, there are a couple of improvements that could’ve been made.  The voice of the Babadook isn’t scary and feels forced.  It shouldn’t have spoken at all in my opinion.  Also, the jittery movements that it sometimes exhibits doesn’t come off great.  Maybe not have the son be a pseudo kid inventor either.  And there’s that one brief part where it turns into Home Alone.  But these are minor issues of personal preference and are in no way glaring problems with the overall piece.   

Guys, I cannot recommend this enough.  Ever since I saw it a couple of days ago I can’t stop thinking about it.  Afterwards I saw the trailer and was blown away again.  I must’ve watched it like six or seven times.  This is one for the ages.  An instant classic?  I think it just might be.

Spoilers for this last part

Ok, fine you want to know what this thing is really all about?  It’s a metaphor for grief and depression.  The Babadook is like a disease that takes the mother over but also harms the child because any disease affects more than just one person.  Depression in particular is demanding on a relationship.  It’s not like the flu where you have it for a little while and then it goes away.  The mother never really got over the death of her husband and blames her son to an extent because they were on their way to the hospital to have him when they got into an accident.  What we see in the movie is the mother hitting rock bottom barely being able to hold on to her sanity.  But eventually she finds a way to deal with her pain and anger and all is mostly well.  The Babadook still lives at the end of the picture because depression and bereavement is an ongoing battle that never truly ends.  You learn to live with it. 

This is one beautiful film that only gets better the more you examine it.  It’s extremely effective all around.  If you haven’t seen it then you shouldn’t have read these spoilers.  What the fuck is your problem man?  See it already.