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The Babadook
2014 94 min Australia, Canada R 16+
★7.3
Drama, Horror
Director: Jennifer Kent
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Description
A grieving single mother and her child fall into a deep well of paranoia when an eerie children's book manifests in their home.
Budget:
$2M
US Gross:
$964,413
Worldwide:
$10.3M
Starring
Essie Davis
Actor
Noah Wiseman
Actor
Daniel Henshall
Actor
Awards
Saturn Awards 2015
— Best Horror Film
Saturn Awards 2015
— Best Young Performer
Saturn Awards 2015
— Best Actress
Key opinion
The Babadook is widely praised as an atmospheric, character-driven psychological horror that elevates genre tropes through profound thematic exploration of grief and motherhood. While it achieves high acclaim for its nuanced performances and tense direction, some viewers find the deliberate, slow-burn pace and the behavior of the child character polarizing.
| Acting | Essie Davis delivers a raw, emotionally resonant performance that anchors the film's shift from domestic drama to psychological horror. | |
| Direction | Jennifer Kent’s direction effectively builds dread by favoring subtle atmosphere, sound design, and character tension over conventional jump scares. | |
| Cinematography | The cinematography and production design successfully utilize pale color palettes and German Expressionist-inspired visuals to mirror the internal mental breakdown of the lead character. | |
| Pacing | The film's slow-burn pacing is polarizing; many viewers appreciate the contemplative, tension-building character study, while others find the opening act tedious and overlong. | |
| Ending | Opinions on the ending are divided; some critics applaud its metaphorical resolution as a masterfully subversive take on trauma, while others find the ambiguity frustrating or illogical. | |
| Acting | The portrayal of the child character is divisive, with some viewers finding Noah Wiseman’s performance effectively irritating and complex, while others find the character’s behavior exhausting and off-putting. |