Amelia who lost her husband in a car crash on the way to the give birth to Samuel, their only kid, struggles to cope with her fate as a single mom. Samuel’s constant fear of monsters and his violent reaction to overcome the fear doesn’t help her cause either which makes her friends distance themselves. When things can not get any worse, they read a strange book in their house that talks about the ‘Babadook’ monster that hides in the dark areas of their house. Even Amelia seems to feel the effect of Babadook and desperately tries to destroy the book, but in vain! The nightmarish experiences the two encounter form the rest of the story.
Language:
English
Running Time:
93 min
Rating:
PG-13
Release date:
17 January 2014
Directed by:
 Jennifer Kent
Produced by:
 Kristina Ceyton
Kristian Moliere
Written by:
 Jennifer Kent
Starring:
 Essie Davis
Noah Wiseman
Daniel Henshall
Hayley McElhinney
Barbara West
Ben Winspear
Music by:
 Jed Kurzel
Shot by:
 Radek Ladczuk
Editing by:
 Simon Njoo
Distributed by:
 Cinetic Media
eOne Films International
IFC

What’s Hot

  • The choice of actors is unbelievably perfect to suit the characters. Essie Davis and Noah Wiseman quite naturally fit in their roles of a struggling single mom and her troubled kid respectively. Essie’s emotions for her kid, her feelings for her husband and her frustrations at not being able to live a normal life are so natural. Noah Wiseman too seems to essay the adamant, fear-stricken child with great ease.
  • Jennifer Kent’s story knit around the drama of the relationship between a mother and her child interwoven with threads of horror that psychologically affects them both, is a refreshingly new attempt. Though the usual terrifying scenes of a horror flick are not aplenty, the engaging experience is provided by the emotional bonding between the characters and of course the twist in the tale at the end.
  • The intense visuals rendered by Radek Ladczuk and some slick editing from Simon Njoo work in tandem to create a perfect canvas to build up the suspense for scenes showing the chaos created by Babadook and the plight of the mom and son is captured well in low light. The costumes and makeup for Amelia are also spot on to reflect her mood and mental state.

What’s Not

  • Though the usual cheap scares tactics are not deployed, the violent behavior of the mom and son both are depicted too much in graphic detail. This makes the movie undesirably more horrific and overshadows the traits of family drama and emotions which prove to be refreshing aspects of this movie.

Badges

Verdict

Verdict Stamp

Monsters and horror stories based on them - If you think you have seen them all, beware of the 'Babadook' who will definitely surprise you. Though you might not be scared as much, the family drama at the core adds a refreshing twist to the horror laced presentation which will keep you hooked with suspense throughout! Watch it to believe it!