Film, Go To

GO TO: The Babadook (2014) Dir. Jennifer Kent

10/7 @ COOLIDGE CORNER

by

The Babadook is a sophisticated horror film about the devastating impacts of parent-child trauma and loss. It follows a single mother, Amelia Vanek (Essie Davis), in Adelaide, Australia, as she struggles to raise her son Samuel (Noah Wiseman) and grieve the long-past loss of her husband, Oskar, who died in a violent car accident on the way to the hospital right as Sam was born (Amelia, in turn, resents Sam for Oskar’s death). Meanwhile, Sam begins acting erratically; he becomes a paranoid insomniac, imagining some evil monster from a book called Mister Babadook that Amelia would read lurking around the house. He builds weapons to protect himself and eventually is pulled out of school because he takes one in. Amelia’s stress rises as Sam becomes increasingly more unstable, and weird things happen around the house (doors open and close; shards of glass come out of her food). She blames Samuel for this, who again blames the Babadook. She burns the original book, only for it to return unharmed on her doorstep with new words: her denial of the Babadook’s existence only strengthens the Babadook, and eventually, it will kill her, Sam, and their dog. As her stress increases until she is erratic herself––yelling at Sam or hurting the family dog––the Babadook emerges beyond the page, ready to harass, torture, and kill the family. To stop the Babadook, Amelia must overcome her primary inner woes by letting go of loss, the past, and the grudges they bring.

What makes The Babadook particularly effective is its near-perfect intertwining of the main scare factor and the leading duo’s emotional state. The more angry and resentful Amelia becomes and Sam increasingly fearful and aggressively distrustful, the stronger the Babadook and its motives become. This makes it partially vulnerable through internal battles, where one must face their inner woes entirely. With consistently well-crafted jumpscares to boot, the film is scary and sensitive. Davis gives a spine-tapping performance, emulating traumatic effects and their occasionally cruel or violent repercussions with the grit of a severely damaged soul. She alone tightens the film’s impact, as her accuracy in representing all negative emotions through a damaged soul is powerfully unmissable. Though the film is quite uneven and occasionally overstated in intent, everything is complexly terrifying and nuanced in tackling trauma and loss. The Babadook is a complicated and emotionally raw horror rollercoaster that will surely please horror fans and intellectual film buffs alike, even in its shallowest moments.

The Babadook
2014
dir. Jennifer Kent
94 min.

Screens Monday, 10/7, 7:00 @ Coolidge Corner Theatre
Introduction by health and science journalist Chelsea Conaboy
Part of the ongoing series: Science on Screen
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