The Babadook

A combination of horror movie and psychological thriller, filmmaker Jennifer Kent's The Babadook is essentially a two-character piece in which Amelia (Essie Davis) and her 6-year-old son Samuel (Noah Wiseman) remain traumatized long after the death of Amelia's husband, who was killed in a car crash while driving her to the hospital to give birth to Samuel. Actually, there's a third key character: Mr. Babadook, a figure in a children's pop-up book who mysteriously appears in the boy's bedroom. Mr. Babadook is a ghoulish fellow with a stovepipe hat and sinister grin who proves impossible to remove. Even though Amelia burns the book, he reappears—more menacing than ever—and then eventually shows up outside the pages, affecting both the isolated mother and her son in fearsome ways. Samuel becomes more and more frenzied, while Amelia seems bent on hurting the boy, leaving the latter no choice but to defend himself. Of course, the question is whether Mr. Babadook is an evil entity that has taken possession of Amelia, or a deadly manifestation of her own inner torment. The Babadook boasts its fair share of shocks, but none are cheap. Rather, the film ultimately makes the rather grim observation that sometimes we just have to learn to live with our demons rather than exorcizing them. Brilliantly acted by both stars, this stylish, sophisticated horror fantasy will stick with viewers much longer than its bloodier, more gruesome genre cousins. Highly recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include cast and crew interviews (63 min.), a “Creating the Book” segment with illustrator Alex Juhasz (4 min.), a behind-the-scenes featurette (3 min.), production segments on “The Stunts: Jumping the Stairs” (2 min.) and “Special Effects: The Stabbing Scene” (2 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the special edition Blu-ray are writer-director Jennifer Kent's 2005 short film “Monster” (11 min.), and deleted scenes (3 min.). Bottom line: a solid extras package for a fine chiller.] (F. Swietek)