I'm skipping ahead to review this film while it's still on at the movies and my recommendation may get a few more 'bums on seats' for this worthy Australian psychological drama/horror film. For those who don't like scary movies, this would not be for you as it could definitely bring on a few nightmares.
Amelia (Essie Davis) is the frazzled mother of Samuel (first-time actor Noah Wiseman) who is a very unusual 6 year old boy who is obsessed with a fear of monsters and building elaborate home made weapons to defend himself and his mum from these monsters. Samuel is not doing well at school, is not well liked and is a total handful at times. Amelia is unfortunately a single mother due to her husband Oskar being killed in a car accident while driving Amelia to the hospital in labour with Samuel (shown in the opening scene so this is not a spoiler). Six years on, she is still struggling with her grief at losing her great love, raising this sometimes painful child, her drab home, a lack of sleep and drab job at an aged care facility.
Into this sad existence suddenly pops a new children's book entitled "The Babadook". It only takes one reading of this illustrated book about a monster coming into your home to Samuel for Amelia to decide it's way too sinister and throw it away. But somehow it makes its way back into the house. This coincides with a series of unsettling events that start to occur with Amelia and Samuel, as well as a loss of support from Amelia's sister. Both mother and child start to unwind as the Babadook steps up the nightly torment and Amelia gets less and less sleep.
This film is a very brave mix of psycho drama and (mostly mild) horror. It's an unusual film that explores the not very often talked about concept of parents who don't actually love their children. Amelia defends and protects Samuel to all outsiders, but struggles to display real affection towards Samuel in a one on one situation - not an understandable thing but kind of relateable given the tragic circumstances around his birth. You do kind of want to smack him a few times yourself. It's a subtle thing that you may not even notice had I not said anything (I had read something in advance which put me on alert for this) but it creates a very interesting milieu for the Babadook to insert his presence into and gain a foothold. Is the bond between Amelia and Samuel strong enough to ward off this evil being?
Tension is built very effectively by first-time director Aussie Jennifer Kent. Classic horror films played on the 'idiot box' as Amelia struggles to/against sleep, great sound effects, the spooky illustrations of the book which point towards events yet to come, and the eerily retro design of the monster all combine to have you gripping your armrest. So much so that at the Brisbane premiere screening I attended, a person knocking over their wine glass up in the back row elicited a bunch of audience giggles for the 'jump' moment it added in a quiet scene.
The performance of the usually so glamourous Essie Davis (Miss Fisher in ABC's Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries) is fantastic here. Bravely allowing herself to be shown in frequent close ups with the makeup department making her look washed out, tired and with little or no makeup, she is the very essence of a woman on the edge. As the tension ratchets up, she slowly unwinds with no support mechanism until you're not sure what she is going to do next. The young boy playing the often unlikeable Samuel is also excellent. Both contribute to an emotionally gripping movie to go with the effective scares.
I would highly recommend this movie to anyone who can handle horror (nothing too gross in here apart from 1 or 2 brief horror scenes) and is looking for something a bit different. I'd give this a 4 out of 5.
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