Jennifer Kent was an Australian actresss, who grew tired of acting. Seeking something new, she had asked to assist Danish filmmaker Lars van Trier on his 2003 film Dogville, which the latter accepted. She learned most of her film-making technique from working on Dogville. Using this experience, she directed a short film in 2005 called Monster, about a mother and child being tormented by a monster. At some point, she decided to expand the premise of that short film into a feature length picture. Kent, inspired by her experiences on Dogville, decided to assemble a "family" of sorts to help her make the film smoothly. Among the people she recruited was her old drama school classmate Esse Davis, Polish director of photography Radek Ladczuk (his first English picture), and American illustrator Alexander Juhasz. While the producer was able to raise $1 million, they still needed around $30,000 for sets, so they turned to Kickstarter to raise the remaining budget. The film was shot primarily around Adelaide, South Australia. A Victorian style home was built specifically for the film. Released in 2014, it was critically acclaimed, and a moderate financial success.
Amelia (Esse Davis) is a widow struggling to raise her 6 year old son, Sam (Noah Wiseman), after the death of her husband while he was driving her to hospital to give birth. Sam is a very troubled child. He has no friends, he was kicked out of school for emotional disturbance, and he seems to be obsessed with this imaginary monster, particularly building weapons to defeat it. Amelia receives little sympathy from her sister Claire (Hayley McElhinney), but is relatively well off in her job at a nursing home. One night, Sam gives Amelia a red story book called The Babadook, about a monster, who torments a person when they learn of its existence.. Amelia is clearly disturbed by the contents of the book, and Sam is convinced that the imaginary monster is the Babadook. Soon, a number of odd occurrences happen. Almost as if a ghost was there. After one incident, where Amelia finds glass in her soup, she rips up the Babadook book. At the party of Claire's daughter, Ruby (Chloe Hurn), Claire admits that she dislikes being around Amelia's house, primarily because of Sam. At the same time, after Ruby essentially bullies him, Sam punches her. On the drive home, Sam sees the Babadook again, but suffers a severe seizure. The doctor recommends sleeping pills for Sam. After giving Sam some sleeping pills, Amelia finds the book, restitched, and featuring even more distrurbing imagery of Amelia killing the family dog, Sam, and eventually herself. However, when she goes to the police to report a potential stalker, they notice her hands are black. She also sees the Babadook in the police station....
This is another one that's hard to talk about. Not for the reasons last time, but because it is very, very good, and I don't want to give anything away. You have to see this film in order to fully appreciate it. Merely reading the synopsis doesn't do the film justice. First, Esse Davis is incredible in this role. She knows how to be sympathetic in one scene, while also psychotic in another, but pulls it off with consistency. She was the best part of this movie. The relationship between Amelia and her son, the basic heart of the story, is done so well, some scene are difficult to watch, because it is emotionally hard to watch scenes, where Amelia has to deal with such a difficult child, or having to yell at her son, even though it is obvious she loves him deeply. Because the film shows us the relationship, and establishes it. This mother-son relationship aspect, in my opinion, overshadows the monster, though that is also handled well. In fact, I think the two are interconnected. My interpretation is that the monster was never real. It is merely the manifestation of Amelia's and Sam's collective grief at losing their husband and father, respectively. Amelia couldn't handle the stress of raising Sam alone, so she begins to hallucinate about the imaginary monster Sam keeps finding. Minor spoiler, but the Babadook is never actually shown fully, which ties into this theory quite well. Granted, I'm not sure if that is the filmmakers intention, but that's my interpretation of the film. There is actually a lot more to talk about. In fact, I could go on for hours about the film. But that would require spoilers.
I can't think of any major flaws with this film. I could go into some nitpicking, but in the end, it still has no major flaws. This film was incredibly good. I can't praise it enough, nor can anyone else. I implore you. Even if you're not a horror fan, you should go watch this movie. Don't go in, though, expecting your typical gory monster flick, because it isn't. It is a film about a mother and son dealing with grief, while being haunted by a mysterious entity. You have to know that going in. Please, go and see this. It is definitely worth your time.
Happy All Saints Day, everyone. Please remember not to eat candy in one go, to rake the leaves, and always look under your bed. Just in case. Anyway, hope you join us next year.
Amelia (Esse Davis) is a widow struggling to raise her 6 year old son, Sam (Noah Wiseman), after the death of her husband while he was driving her to hospital to give birth. Sam is a very troubled child. He has no friends, he was kicked out of school for emotional disturbance, and he seems to be obsessed with this imaginary monster, particularly building weapons to defeat it. Amelia receives little sympathy from her sister Claire (Hayley McElhinney), but is relatively well off in her job at a nursing home. One night, Sam gives Amelia a red story book called The Babadook, about a monster, who torments a person when they learn of its existence.. Amelia is clearly disturbed by the contents of the book, and Sam is convinced that the imaginary monster is the Babadook. Soon, a number of odd occurrences happen. Almost as if a ghost was there. After one incident, where Amelia finds glass in her soup, she rips up the Babadook book. At the party of Claire's daughter, Ruby (Chloe Hurn), Claire admits that she dislikes being around Amelia's house, primarily because of Sam. At the same time, after Ruby essentially bullies him, Sam punches her. On the drive home, Sam sees the Babadook again, but suffers a severe seizure. The doctor recommends sleeping pills for Sam. After giving Sam some sleeping pills, Amelia finds the book, restitched, and featuring even more distrurbing imagery of Amelia killing the family dog, Sam, and eventually herself. However, when she goes to the police to report a potential stalker, they notice her hands are black. She also sees the Babadook in the police station....
This is another one that's hard to talk about. Not for the reasons last time, but because it is very, very good, and I don't want to give anything away. You have to see this film in order to fully appreciate it. Merely reading the synopsis doesn't do the film justice. First, Esse Davis is incredible in this role. She knows how to be sympathetic in one scene, while also psychotic in another, but pulls it off with consistency. She was the best part of this movie. The relationship between Amelia and her son, the basic heart of the story, is done so well, some scene are difficult to watch, because it is emotionally hard to watch scenes, where Amelia has to deal with such a difficult child, or having to yell at her son, even though it is obvious she loves him deeply. Because the film shows us the relationship, and establishes it. This mother-son relationship aspect, in my opinion, overshadows the monster, though that is also handled well. In fact, I think the two are interconnected. My interpretation is that the monster was never real. It is merely the manifestation of Amelia's and Sam's collective grief at losing their husband and father, respectively. Amelia couldn't handle the stress of raising Sam alone, so she begins to hallucinate about the imaginary monster Sam keeps finding. Minor spoiler, but the Babadook is never actually shown fully, which ties into this theory quite well. Granted, I'm not sure if that is the filmmakers intention, but that's my interpretation of the film. There is actually a lot more to talk about. In fact, I could go on for hours about the film. But that would require spoilers.
I can't think of any major flaws with this film. I could go into some nitpicking, but in the end, it still has no major flaws. This film was incredibly good. I can't praise it enough, nor can anyone else. I implore you. Even if you're not a horror fan, you should go watch this movie. Don't go in, though, expecting your typical gory monster flick, because it isn't. It is a film about a mother and son dealing with grief, while being haunted by a mysterious entity. You have to know that going in. Please, go and see this. It is definitely worth your time.
Happy All Saints Day, everyone. Please remember not to eat candy in one go, to rake the leaves, and always look under your bed. Just in case. Anyway, hope you join us next year.
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