Review #200: The Babadook (2014)

This review was originally written in 2022.

Gabe's 100 Bucket List Horror Films Review #55: The Babadook (2014)

I would be lying if I said The Babadook was a bad movie. Because it really isn't. It was super popular on the internet back when it came out, and rightfully so. It's got a freaking 98% on Rotten Tomatoes for crying out loud (at least, that's what its Tomatometer rating is, I don't know how Rotten Tomatoes works) so obviously it's a good movie. It's creepy, it's tense, there's a strong sense of dread pervading the entire film- but while I would be lying if I said it was a bad movie, I would also be lying if I said I was ever excited about watching again.

The Babadook follows an Australian widow and her monster-obsessed child, and the plethora of difficulties the two of them face on a daily basis. This all gets exacerbated when they discover a horrific children's book in their home that seems to attract the attention of some kind of unseen entity known as "Mr. Babadook", who brings them both on a downward spiral towards insanity.

I've seen this movie once or twice before, so I knew what I was getting myself into. But man, I cannot stress enough how INCREDIBLY ANNOYING the main child is in this film. For the first thirty minutes, every single scene is just him being THE WORST. There's a meme format showing a two-image exchange from this film where the mother looks back at her son and exasperatedly says, "Why can't you be normal!?" and then the child's caption simply says "screams" and it perfectly sums up how freakishly annoying this child is. If I ever needed someone to convince me not to have kids they could show me this film and I'd be set. This child is AWFUL.

But you know what? You know what? While the kid spends the first thirty minutes being THE WORST, somehow the movie uses the next thirty minutes to make me root for him by making him chill out and having his mother be downright horrid. Like, I know there's this (likely metaphorical) supernatural struggle going on in the background but seriously, the mother becomes so awful that now she's got me wishing we could go back to having the kid be awful instead. The final thirty minutes is fine, but it really comes down to exactly what brand of metaphor the movie is using as to whether I like it or not.

So, fan theories abound for this film. (That's really what I would say is its legacy and why it got so popular- sure it's a good film, but ultimately, it leaves enough clues for viewers to piece together what they think it's "about" so the discussion about it will never really end, compared to if it were more conclusive.) Obviously a lot of people assume the whole thing is a metaphor for mental illness (particularly with the bit at the end where victory over the monster comes not from removing it from one's life, but learning to live with it) but this doesn't quite work for me as anything except a sweeping generalization; so few of the actual events feel like they fit into this metaphor. (While yes victory comes from learning to live with it, the protagonists don't learn to live with it after seeking outside help, they learn to live with it by confronting it head-on all by themselves and shouting a lot.) There's clues to suggest that the mother created the book herself (she does mention having written children's books before, and her hands look blackened like she just finished drawing with charcoal) but this also feels like it doesn't really fit into very much beyond just being a neat theory on its own. I simply don't really get what this movie is "trying to do", and the way that it ends with everything all hunky-dory despite SO MUCH having gone wrong for the protagonists really seems too good to be true. As cliche as it is, I almost subscribe to the idea that the mother killed her son (and likely herself) and the last bit is a fever dream, but even that doesn't actually fit into anything like some might wish it did.

If you've never seen The Babadook, this is going to be a great horror experience and I would definitely include this on a list of movies everyone should see. But after my first viewing, I feel like very little was gained by watching it again and I CANNOT GET OVER HOW ANNOYING THAT CHILD IS I MEAN COME ON

Overall Rating: 7/10 Inexplicable Doves on a Platter

Director Solidarity: Apparently the director, Jennifer Kent, owns the rights to the film and has stated in no uncertain terms that there will never, ever, be a sequel made, no matter how much money she is offered.