The Babadook

 

DIRECTED BY-:
Jennifer Kent
STARRING-:
Essie Davis
Noah Wiseman
Daniel Henshall
YEAR OF RELEASE-:
2014
PREMISE-:
A single mother and her child fall into a deep well of paranoia when an eerie children's book titled "Mister Babadook" manifests in their home.

• The interesting theme, a few scary shots and the decent performances managed to keep the film afloat, for the most part. However, it crashed pretty hard when it came to the execution of its ideas. This is a type of film where the main character grows more and more insane as time progresses and if we are to get on board with this, we must be given enough reasons to unpack the psychological and emotional state of our protagonist. Unfortunately, the reasons the film provided didn't feel nuanced or substantial enough for me to hold on to. The scenes which were supposed to show that the protagonist is not a good parent didn’t feel meaningful or significant in any way. This could’ve easily been solved if we were shown the mother being not only physically but also emotionally negligent towards her child, which would have driven the point home much more effectively. 
• The transition from the Babadook being completely in her head to actually manifesting in reality didn't feel earned or justified and was more perplexing than horrifying. 
• The community service officers had zero affect on the plot so their inclusion felt like useless and inconsequential. 
• The child actor's performance was really unconvincing and obnoxious in some scenes.
• Few scenes in the third act felt very repetitive and redundant. 
• The editing in some scenes was also very cheesy, shoddy and amateurish.  

RATING -: 4/10