If you've made it to this blog for some reason, you're probably a horror movie fan. (Or one of my parents.) And if you're reading this anywhere near 2014, you've probably heard a lot of good things about The Babadook. And what you've heard is probably true - it's a really solid, well-made, well-acted film. I really enjoyed it, and I know I've been seeing it turn up on a lot of Best Of 2014 lists. I've noticed it's been getting a lot of love in the non-horror circles as well, so it doesn't surprise me that it's been getting some flak in horror circles (usually along the lines of "it's not that scary and nothing happens") - I guess the backlash is inevitable nowadays. And honestly, I get where the criticism is coming from. It's not redefining any genre, and really it's more of a drama with a hard undertone of dread than an outright horror film. But if you go into it knowing that it's not trying to be extreme or push any boundaries, it'd be hard to not at least admire the craftsmanship behind it, even if you don't latch onto the dramatic parts. But if the drama stuff works for you (like it did for me), it's pretty damned great.
There have been a lot of reviews on this thing floating around for well over a year at this point. I won't add to that mass, other than to say that it's totally worth seeing - horror fan or no, it's just a good movie. And I will completely revise my opinion of the Oscars if we see a (deserving) best actress nod for Essie Davis or for the direction of Jennifer Kent.
I'll admit it though - it did suffer a bit from being overhyped, but I think that is just the world we live in. At least for those of us that compulsively visit movie websites. I had heard so much about it being so, so good that my expectations were just unrealistically high. It's no secret that people are pretty extremist in their opinions online (it's either the best thing ever or worthless garbage). Gray areas are much smaller than they once were, and everyone wants to be on board for the next big thing - or, failing that, on board for the backlash. Really, it's a bit unfair to the piece of art itself - this makes it hard not to be disappointed sometimes. Anything that isn't a completely transcendent experience ends up being a letdown.
But that's more of a comment on the state of the film media rather than any one film. I get why people are so excited about The Babadook - it's a decidedly adult take on a dread building type of horror - usually reserved for the Ouijas or Paranormal Activitys of the world. What sets The Babadook apart (besides the high degree of craftsmanship on display from writer-director Jennifer Kent) is the focus on a decidedly unsexy, adult subject matter. Lots of horror films deal with the death of a family member, but few use it as a springboard to really delve into the grief that accompanies that loss. Here, Amelia's husband was killed driving her to the hospital to give birth to their now 7 year-old son. The loss has weighed heavily on both mother and son - Amelia wears her grief in her every move and little look. It's a really affecting performance from Davis. And little Samuel (a solid performance from young Noah Wiseman) has grown to be quite the little terror, and you can see why Amelia is exhausted by raising him alone.
Also, since it's not trying to appeal to a traditional horror audience, The Babadook is avoids a lot of the annoying "jump-scare/musical-sting" type scares that get tiring after a while. Instead, you get a slowly building sense of dread that just builds and builds throughout the runtime and never lets up. It's interesting - by avoiding any crazy scares, that feeling is never really resolved. The typical horror movie sort of has peaks and valleys - i.e. "here's something scary, then things are okay for a while, then here's something scary again." You don't get that in The Babadook - just this dread that continually escalates.
The overall feeling of bleakness that permeates the entire film really never lets you feel totally comfortable, and it's a testament to the deft direction of Jennifer Kent that the bleakness never feels cheap or exploitative. That might be the biggest accomplishment of the film - all of the dread is earned and comes about in a way that feels organic. The way the characters are written and acted make them feel like real people that you can relate to. And sadly, shitty things happen to real people. (Shitty things like your husband dying, or having a crazy spastic kid... not so much having a monster show up at your house.)
What could irk some people is that it's a heavily symbolic film - if you expect a firm answer to "what is this thing and where did it come from" you'll probably be disappointed. I don't expect we'll be seeing a Babadook 2, is what I'm saying. But I'm certainly interested in seeing what Jennifer Kent has up her sleeve next.
I would highly recommend this film.
Oh, and there's a dog!
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| Since I can't get a picture of the dog from The Babadook, here is a picture of my dog Kia, being pensive. |
Breed: Small white thing... Bichon maybe? Much like Pierre from Howling IV
Function: To be another thing to put in danger in Amelia and Sam's house. To bark and cause tension when we're wondering if the Babadook is around
Fate: Killed by Amelia in a trance type thing. Neck broken and dropped to the floor. You don't see it, but you hear it. Sad.
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