The Babadook
The Plot
Years after Amelia Vanek’s husband is killed in a car accident as he drove her to the hospital while she’s in labor, she’s still struggling to raise her son Sam as a single mother. That struggle gets even harder when a strange picture book appears in his bedroom, containing disturbing images of the titular “Babadook”—a creature with a wide mouth and long claw-like fingers, which Sam becomes convinced is real.
At first, Amelia struggles to try and convince Sam that the Babadook isn’t real; but as strange happenings in the house lead to longer sleepless nights, she has a harder time convincing herself. After she tries to destroy the book, it reappears on her doorstep patched back together and with all new terrifying entries of Amelia killing her dog, her son, and herself. The more she tries to deny the Babadook, the stronger it gets.
The Breakdown
This movie is a masterclass both in horror and in motherhood. Long before the Babadook makes an appearance, the aura of mounting frustration and claustrophobia is already building as we watch Amelia try to care for her son. She is exhausted, unable to get a good night’s sleep without Sam climbing into bed with her for comfort; she has no time to herself that Sam can’t also impede on. Throughout it all, the tangle of complicated grief and blame surrounding Sam and her deceased husband draw tighter and tighter around her like a noose. The supernatural elements refine and build off of the more mundane drama, until the two are virtually indistinguishable.
The Scare Factor
Oh, and it’s dead scary. From the Babadook itself to Amelia’s loosening grip on her sanity, everything about this movie is subtle and unsettling.