The Babadook is a 2014 Australian psychological supernatural horror film directed by Jennifer Kent, and the cast includes Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Daniel Henshall, Hayley McElhinney, Barbara West, and Ben Winspear.
My Thoughts On The Babadook
Why does grief so often get turned into something scary on screen?
The Babadook is a film where everything is built on one awful moment - Amelia’s husband dies in a car accident while driving her to the hospital to give birth to their son, Samuel, where birth and death are locked together forever in her mind, and the movie doesn’t rush past that.
Amelia is one of the most difficult protagonists I’ve watched in a horror film too, and I mean that in a good way, as she’s not easy to sympathize with all the time - she’s tired, withdrawn, and often cold toward Samuel.
There are moments where her behavior make you feel uneasy, where itfeels wrong in a very quiet, everyday way, and while we know she loves her son, but we also know she also resents him, and the film doesn’t try to soften that truth - Samuel was born on the day his father died, and no matter how unfair that is, it shapes how she sees him.
There’s real tension in the silence, in the way Amelia speaks to Samuel, and in how little warmth exists between them, and even normal routines feel heavy, and parenting isn’t shown as noble or rewarding here, it’s exhausting, frustrating, and sometimes unbearable.
Samuel himself is a lot to deal with too, where he’s loud, anxious, and often overwhelming, and there were points where I genuinely felt irritated watching him, which was completely intentional, as the film puts you in Amelia’s head by testing your patience the same way hers is tested.
With that said, I didn’t hate Samuel, as I saw him more as a symptom of everything that’s wrong rather than the cause, as he’s a scared kid who feels unsafe, and his behavior reflects that.
When the Babadook book shows up, the film takes a sharp turn, as it slowly inserts itself into Amelia’s life, where the story it tells is simple - once the Babadook enters your life, it never leaves. That idea alone carries a lot of weight, especially when you think about grief in those terms.
The Babadook itself isn’t overused either, which I appreciated, and you don’t see it clearly very often, and when you do, it’s unsettling without being ridiculous, here the design feels intentionally artificial, almost like something pulled from an old storybook or silent film.
As Amelia starts to unravel, the film becomes harder to watch, but also more interesting, where her anger grows sharper, her patience disappears, and she begins lashing out at Samuel in ways that are genuinely disturbing at times as the Babadook feeds on what’s already there.
The Babadook even takes on the appearance of Amelia’s husband at one points, showing that her grief isn’t abstract - it has a face, it has a voice, and she hasn’t let go of him, and in some ways, nor does she want to.
Too many films want to wrap emotional pain up neatly by the end, as if facing it once makes it disappear, but The Babadook doesn’t do that, as it suggests that grief stays with you, whether you like it or not, and the real danger comes from pretending it isn’t there.
The music also deserves credit, as it’s subtle but unsettling, never trying to overpower the scene, as it creeps in just enough to keep you uneasy, and there were moments where the score made otherwise normal scenes feel threatening, which mirrors how Amelia experiences her everyday life as something overwhelming and hostile.
There were however some moments where the symbolism felt a bit heavy, and a few scenes leaned a little too hard into obvious horror beats, and I also think some people might struggle with how relentless the film is, as there’s very little relief, and that can be draining. Still, those issues didn’t take away from what the film was trying to do.
Compared to something like Hereditary, which explores similar themes, The Babadook feels smaller and more grounded, and while I personally connect more with Hereditary, that doesn’t make this film weaker, it just means it approaches grief from a different angle.
In the end, The Babadook isn’t really about a creature in a top hat, it’s about what happens when pain is ignored and buried instead of faced, and I found it it thoughtful, uncomfortable, and deeply human.
[The Babadook on IMDB.] [Where to watch The Babadook]
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