The Babadook

I didn't have a lot of spare time when this came out in theaters, but it seemed mean to review it when no one else was able to go see it's amazingness.  So now that it's out on DVD and up on Netflix, here it goes.

This movie is so many things.  I can barely even start.  This feels a bit like a fairytale, dark and lilting and full of hidden meanings.  It's about a single mother and her troublemaker son.  One night at bedtime her son requests she read a book that the mother has never seen before... The Babadook Book.  It tells the story of a terrible monster, and really frightens her son, though he screams when she tries to suggest a different book.

Having children is terrifying.  This is something we really don't talk about in our culture.  But seriously, especially for a single mother, children are absolutely terrifying.  Almost all children have a stage of their lives where they are difficult.  Doubly so children who have had a parent die.  It's a difficult situation to be in.  A lot of movies include scary children, but this child isn't creepy.  He's uncontrollable, angry, aggressive towards others, withdrawn and acting out.  He is not quiet and staring at the sky, he's showing classic signs of lashing out in response to trauma.  And that's terrifying in a way no demonic possession will ever be, because it's so real.

This mother is at her wit's end, taking extra shifts as a nurse trying to make ends meet.  She's suppressed her feelings about the death of her husband and doesn't have the adequate emotional resources to care for her child.  The character of the Babadook gives us a lens through which to see this tormented relationship between two people who have experienced great loss.

If you remember this when watching the film, the ending will make much more sense to you.  Remember that the Babadook is tension, loss, and is the physical manifestation of an unhealthy familial relationships.  When you don't deal well with grief & loss, don't have an adequate support network and go through a really difficult time this can manifest itself in emotionally, mentally and even physically abusive ways.

This isn't to mean that the Babadook is literally the child (or the mother), but it is a way to understand the darkness in their relationship.  It's incredible.  I feel like I will never really describe it correctly but please, go see it.