The Babadook (2014)

About The Babadook

The Babadook is a 2014 Australian psychological horror film written and directed by Jennifer Kent. The film centers around a widowed mother, plagued by the violent death of her husband, battling with her son's fear of a monster lurking in the house, but soon discovers a sinister presence all around her.

Making / Production

Written and directed by Jennifer Kent, ‘The Babadook’ was based on her 2005 short film ‘Monster’. The film was produced by Causeway Films and made its debut at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.

Actors

• Essie Davis - Amelia, a grief-stricken mom trying to cope with the death of her husband while raised her disturbed son.
• Noah Wiseman - Samuel, Amelia's son who battles an all-consuming fear of a monster in the house.
• Hayley McElhinney - Claire, Amelia's concerned sister.
• Barbara West - Mrs. Roach, the kind-hearted neighbour.

Trivia / Interesting Facts

• The Babadook book in the movie was created by illustrator Alex Juhasz.
• The film does not use cgi for the Babadook; it is portrayed via in-camera magic tricks and stop motion animation.
• In 2019, the film was added to the National Film Registry for being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.

Awards

The film won the AACTA Award for Best Direction and was nominated for Best Film, and Essie Davis received the AACTA Award for Best Actress for her performance in the film.

Quotes

• “If it's in a word, or it's in a look, you can't get rid of the Babadook.” - Samuel
• “You can bring me the boy.” - The Babadook
• “I think it's nice you're trying to scare him. You're gonna have to do better than that.” - Amelia to Samuel

Music, Soundtrack

• The chilling and atmospheric soundtrack of the film was composed by Jed Kurzel.
• Despite being a horror film, the soundtrack avoids traditional horror stings and focuses more on the psychological tension between the characters.
• The sound design and music were crafted in tandem to create the jittery and menacing atmosphere of the film.