What if a children's monster was real? That is the premise of this movie. It becomes more than that. This is a story about a young kid growing up without a father and the impact that has on him as well as the mother who can't process that loss. The monster in this story feeds on the mother's inability to both move on but also accept her son. In the first half Samuel way seem like an annoying six year old boy but by the second half there is a role reversal where the mother becomes the one who is afraid and Samuel seems to be taking care of her. It's almost like Samuel learns the monster is just a story where the monster is real for the mother because she can't cope with the loss of their family or accept Samuel. This movie might be scarier or more impactful to parents, though it is still relatable for any viewer who has grown up with some family trauma. The monster in this is a great combination of German expressionism and the illustrations of a pop-up children's book.
The film starts by showing the car accident that Oskar Vanek (Ben Winspear) gets into while taking his pregnant wife Amelia (Essie Vanek) to the hospital to have their baby. The film seems to present this as a nightmare Amelia is having as she sinks into her bed in the way someone would when they are having that falling feeling when they stuck in between a dream and waking. I really enjoyed that. Amelia is woken up by her six year old son, Samuel (Noah Wiseman). It won't be the last time you hear him screaming "Mommy!." Samuel is behave like a kid who can't cope with his ideas of monsters. He brings a dart gun he made to school and gets in trouble for it. He doesn't have many friends. Amelia reads him the story of the Babadook which is a pop-up book mixed with a Grimm's fairy tale of sorts where it talks about how he watches you sleeping and how you can't away from it. Samuel starts to believe this story is real. Amelia hides the book on the top a very tall dresser.
Amelia's sister Claire (Hayley McElhinney) has a daughter named Ruby (Chloe Hum) who doesn't like Samuel and thinks he is weird. At Ruby's birthday party Samuel goes into her treehouse to be alone. Ruby bullies him by saying he doesn't have a father and his mother doesn't want him. At the same time, Amelia snaps at one of Claire's friends when they mention she doesn't have a husband and she she try to see someone that can help her process that loss. Amelia also laments the fact that she doesn't have a family at many times like when watching TV and seeing couples together or staring at a couple making out in a car. On the drive home from the birthday party Samuel actually has visions of the Babadook. Amelia finally takes him to the doctor as her loss of sleep and inability to control Samuel is overbearing. She gets some prescription drugs to help him sleep and they actually work.
What I liked about this film was how it was split into two halves. The horror really doesn't come until the second half. The first half focuses more on Samuel's relationship with Amelia. Since Oskar died on Samuel's birthday it seems as though Amelia can't get over the fact that he replaced his Oskar in a way. She even says as much later in the film. The games that Samuel plays in the film with his weapons and stuff as the type of games the father might play with him if he were actually around. Most of his attention seeking habits are actually because Amelia neglects him. It seems like Amelia is taking care of him out of necessity rather than actually wanting to raise a child. When she laments when she these couples together she is not only wanting a family but also wishing Oskar were there. She never seems to appreciate anything about Samuel. What is interesting is that in the second half of the film, as soon as Samuel takes the sedatives he starts becoming better. The movie never really confirms if what Samuel is seeing is real leaving it up to you if he was actually seeing it. The difference is Samuel seems to accept the Babadook isn't real while Amelia denies its existence just as she denies feeling any grief over Oskar's death or not admitting she doesn't want Samuel. The monster seems to feed off that denial. I'm not sure if this is a movie advocating medication but it seems like everything goes away for Samuel as soon as he starts taking it and the monster needs to target Amelia. Could there be something more I'm missing? Or is her want to medicate him further denying the issue? She never actually solves the problem by raising him and instead relies on medicine to keep him docile.
The monster in this movie is out of a black and white children's pop-up book. The movie even makes it look like it as the color palette for this film is blue and gray, not garish though it actually looks easy on the eyes at times. Whenever you see the monster it is like something from a Lon Chaney movie in terms of look. In terms of shadow and how it is light and outlined it is a German Expressionist movie. The fast movements of it are really awesome too. There are some other great filmmaking moments too. I all ready talked about the sinking into the dream thing at the beginning. That was almost like something from a giallo movie. The first time you actually see the monster though it is this brilliant suspense scene where the door creaks open and you see the black suit and hear the "Babadook...dook." Then Amelia is under the covers like a kid and when she looks up she sees it scurry along the ceiling. So the visuals, blocking, and perspective all adds to the scene.
Spoiler Section
After Samuel had displayed more bizarre behavior like putting broken glass in the soup and blaming it on the Babadook, Amelia burns the book after ripping the pages. Days after Samuel is starting his medicine, Amelia sees the book good as new on the front porch. She reads it and there are pages added of her strangling the dog and killing Samuel and then herself. She calls the police but there is no proof of stalking. After the Babadook comes into her room that night she starts acting more aggressively. She tells Sam to "eat shit!" This is after he expresses his hunger and how he will get sick if he doesn't eat. In one of my favorite scenes they go out for ice cream and Sam sits quietly eating while there are kids fighting at a nearby table. Talk about a role reversal. Notice how things seem better for them outside of the house which I think is a manifestation of the monster.
Close up look of the Babadook, the exact type of monster look from a child's story but also very Lon Chaney
Back at home Amelia starts doing more unstable things like cutting the phone line and playing with a knife in front of Sam. She even kills Sam in a hallucination. One night Oskar appears and says to give him the boy. She knows it is the Babadook disguised as Oskar. The Babadook stalks her through the house and eventually possesses her. This is known in a great scene where the dog, Bugsy starts barking at her and she breaks his neck. She begins to chase Samuel who uses his weapons to keep her at bay. She corners him in the room upstairs. He touches her face and this seems to snap her back to reality where she seemingly vomits up the Babadook. Sam says "you can't get rid of the Babadook." Samuel is dragged away and the Babadook forces Amelia to watch visions of Oskar's death. Amelia tells the Babadook he is nothing and drives it away to the basement where Samuel had first seemingly unleashed it.
After this Samuel and Ameila celebrate his birthday for the first time and Amelia begins to appreciate Sam's quirks. When they talk to child services Sam repeats a line from earlier when he says he doesn't have a father and that he was killed when they were driving to the hospital to have him. Earlier Amelia was ashamed of this. Now she says, "he speaks his mind, just like his Dad." Amelia feeds the Babadook some worms which calms it down. She says Samuel can go see it when he is older.
I really enjoyed the ending of this movie. I loved seeing Samuel use his weapons. Essie Davis is terrific at showing different ranges of emotion throughout. She goes from sympathetic, to pathetic, to scary and then loving by the end. Samuel becomes much more likable as the movie goes on. I think the idea here is that a monster can feed off of the trauma but also the neglect of Samuel. It is only by the end that his love is strong enough to save Amelia from the monster which shows that she loves him as well when she never says it. By celebrating the birthday it shows she is no longer afraid and can finally move on. Every interaction they have toward the end is adorable and more like a real mother and son or the ideal mother and son.
Rating: 9/10
Trivia: According to director Jennifer Kent the Babadook design was based of off Lon Chaney in the lost film stills for London After Midnight.
Director William Friedkin said this was the most terrifying film ever made.
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