The Babadook Is A Masterpiece of Writing And Acting

IFC Midnight 

presents

THE BABADOOK
Written and Directed by Jennifer Kent

The 411 by Maria:

Last night I watched the Babadook a dark, moody, smart, horror movie about a woman who hasn't dealt with her grief after her husband's passing. At first it seems like any other generic horror movie about a little boy scared of a story his mother reads to him one night where the character of the book comes to life scaring them both out of their minds.

NO! It is NOT that. It is so much more and I was completely blown away by how good this movie was and I am still unsure if the Babadook is a manifestation of the characters minds or if he was real. Whatever! It doesn't matter.  We are so conditioned to feel a certain way by so many movies out there today and I have watched a ton of the horror genre. This is one of the greats!

Amelia is a single mom or mum as Samuel calls her, this is an Australian film after all whose husband died in a car accident as he was getting her to the hospital to have Samuel. Samuel is a precocious, adorable 6 year old who has some obvious behavioral problems due to his wild imagination or is it imagination? Anyway I digress....

While Amelia tries to handle Samuel being kicked out of school and his wild, vivid imagination she begins to see the things that Samuel is seeing.

While it plays out like a horror movie, dark, foreboding house, creepy dark corners, bumps in the night, spooked pet, scary basement, frightening visions, horrifying sounds I believe the story has so many layers you will think about it for days. I need to watch it again to see what I missed. There were times I actually had the chills all over my body and felt very tense mostly during the quietest moments of the movie which I contribute to the brilliant acting by both main characters.  Essie Davies (Amelia) is a wildly impressive. She is a loving mom, a frightening force, a grieving wife, a tormented killer, she is everything and then some. Noah Wiseman (Samuel) is a loveable, devilish, little one who I wanted to hold and comfort one second and slap his bottom the next.

Not scary, I didn't loose any sleep but very very spooky and thought provoking. Who do you think the babadook is?