The Babadook

Yes, it’s horrifying and terrifying

     The Babadook, written and directed by Australian Jennifer Kent, really is as horrifying as the ads have said.  It achieves this with a minimum of gore and without going overboard with triple ending sequences.  The set up is that a single mother
with a six-year-old son has had trouble sleeping and her son misbehaves at school.  

Reading The Babadook

He finds a book for her to read to him one night.  It’s The Babadook and it’s very disturbing.  Kent foreshadows what might happen because of the book’s plot and away we go.  

Daniel Henshall and Essie Davis

     Essie Davis and Daniel Henshall are amazing as the mother and son.  The movie really gets at the fears parents have for their children and what they might do to their children.  Kent never cheats on her premise and the resolution is both realistic and chilling.  I was very angry about one sequence in the movie and found myself yelling at the screen.  Fortunately, I was watching at home and not in a cinema (it played one week at The Esquire).  For anyone interested in thrillers or horror, this is a must-see!