Jennifer Kent - The Babadook

Essie Davis in The Babadook

The Babadook is an Australian horror film by Jennifer Kent and was also the first time I (consciously) saw Essie Davis who plays the main character Amelia.

Amelia is a single mother and has a six year old son named Samuel (Noah Wiseman). She was widowed when her husband died in a car crash while they were on the way to the hospital when Samuel was born. Samuel is quite difficult and gets expelled from school for bringing his homemade weapons. One day the mother and son find a book about the Babadook and start reading it. This is when you can say that all hell breaks loose for them.

Like so many others have done, I really enjoyed this film. I enjoyed that it left a lot to the imagination of the audience and did not use jump scares so much. I also enjoyed how psychological it was. I found the film scary from time to time, but the main feeling I had was sadness. I felt so sorry for Amelia and her son. They were pretty much isolated from the rest of the world and most people were quite mean to both of them. It is also a very beautiful film.

Essie Davis and Noah Wiseman in The Babadook

I can go on and on about how much I love Essie Davis as an actress (but I will not). I think she is amazing and as I said before, this was the film where I discovered her talents. If I had not read it I would not have thought that she was the same actress as is playing Phryne Fisher who I discovered because of this film, but who I today love even more. Noah Wisman is also wonderful! At first you get really angry and irritated since Samuel is very annoying, but as the film moves on and Amelia starts to get more and more insane, you start feel sorry for him.

I see the film more symbolically than literally and this might be why I was more sad than scared. To me it is a very good exploration of depression and repressed feelings. It shows a single parents struggle with life and a difficult child while suffering from sleep deprivation. I myself, grew up with a single mother and I can guarantee I have had many ups and downs throughout my life.

The film also reminded me of an episode in my hometown a couple of years back: A depressed single mother lost welfare help and first kept her two young sons home from school and then drowned them in the lake.

Essie Davis in The Babadook

Depression is really terrible. It changes everything inside you to an extent that is not entirely obvious to someone who has never been affected by it. Most often, you do not realise that you are depressed until it is too late. It is a hard condition and takes a long time to get better. The Babadook strives towards the light though. The ending is quite happy even though it also shows that the monsters do not go away all together.


I borrowed the pictures in this entry from the official Babadook site and I hope that was okay.