‘Babadook’
A-
Loss: a reckless cyclone that unleashes a flash flood of destructive emotions. It is not planned, foreseen or expected, but we will all inevitably face it in our lifetime.
Such is the theme of “The Babadook,” a 2014 Australian horror film directed by Jennifer Kent. It is inarguably the best horror film in recent memory, and I don’t use that phrase lightly, much less use it often.
Essie Davis plays Amelia, a mother still grieving years after the death of her husband. She struggles to survive everyday life, trying to keep her erratically disturbed son, Samuel, under control and out of trouble.
After finding a children’s book titled “Mister Babadook” about a child-eating monster, things begin to worsen when Samuel starts to believe the monster wants to kill him.
Grappling with a toxic mixture of insomnia, trauma, anger and a potential mental breakdown, Amelia starts questioning whether she’s going further down into the mouth of madness or if the abomination actually exists.
It’s a burden not even Atlas himself could bear.
To say “The Babadook” deserves the aforementioned title — see: best horror film — is to say that the color of a black Labrador is, well, black. Down to every minuscule detail, to every millimeter, all of it is true in the sincerest way imaginable.
This is amplified by Essie Davis’ exceptionally phenomenal performance. Not a second goes by where the ominous aura that envelopes her ceases to create a palpable, unmerciful sense of nerve-wracking tension in your stomach.
Not totally reliant on Davis’ acting prowess, the film boasts an impressive cast of characters with their own distinct, multi-dimensional personalities, in addition to a unique and terrifying monster with a powerful, overbearing presence.
You know what, upon further inspection, I noticed a typo when I wrote that “The Babadook” is the best horror film in recent memory. Allow me to rephrase: “The Babadook” is one of the best movies to be released in recent memory.
There, that’s better.
Dylan Corbeill
