Rating of
3/4
"The Babadook" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 01/05/15
An exhausted single mother struggling with a young son with behavioural problems is stalked by a supernatural creature featured in a children's book called "The Babadook". Mark Kermode's choice for best movie of 2014 is a psychological horror story using the format of a chiller to explore the taboo subject of the darker side of motherhood. Taking stylistic cues from J Horror and The Grudge in particular, the story is a harrowing tale of a mother, convincingly played by Essie Davis, who can't cope with her own child and falls into anxiety and depression, eventually fearing for her sanity. First time writer/director Jennifer Kent has created a film that is atmospherically shot and has a real feel for tension making for a genuinely chilling and thought provoking story. I suspect its impact would be felt far more greatly by a parent than myself, but it's a film that has a thematic intelligence that is rarely seen in mainstream horror.
