The Babadook
Directed by Jennifer KentA 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.
- jackmeatOctober 5, 2025My quick rating - 7.2/10. An exceptionally well-made flick on a shoestring budget. Everything in this movie does its job. The story is basically a yarn on "the boogeyman" tale, but this goes much further and is more personal. I must point out that this is a thinking person's horror movie that uses camera work, slight music, acting (that forgotten art), and a story to scare you. No gore is needed to frighten you around the corners of the house. I suppose I should just simply state the plot: A single mother and her slightly off son live in a suburb of Australia (I think Adelaide is a suburb, I am new to this Continent). The son believes there is a dark force haunting them, known as the "Babadook," which happens to be a quite disturbing children's book they have in their house. Well, of course, the mother dismisses this as nonsense. We know from other movies what happens when evil spirits aren't believed in... The plot centers around the mother (played wonderfully by Essie Davis) and her spiral into madness. The book almost describes the twists she will take on her journey. Every element of this movie is paid such detail, that it borders on "genius". Keep in mind this movie was a Kickstarter-funded film, made on a 30,000-dollar budget. After watching, all I can say is it screams "Get Jennifer Kent (writer/director) a budget and let's see what she can do." Definitely something that any drama/horror fan should be checking out. The only negative I could find is the strange ending, and of course, I am not saying what that is. Enjoy.
- Emanuele MartelloneSeptember 20, 2025a mix of psychological and possession horror. i liked the tense atmosphere created in the first half. captivating family dynamic. the only downside is the kind of strange final resolution, but it could be an upside depending on the direction you were expecting. overall good film
- ProfSolonAugust 17, 2025Great movie.I think it was an original idea.I'm not sure. But I've never heard of this before, and I thought it was pretty interesting, create a new folklore, or perhaps it was bringing back old folklore, I've never knew about either way. It was good and I do suggest a watch.
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The Babadook Trivia
The Babadook was released on May 22, 2014.
The Babadook was directed by Jennifer Kent.
The Babadook has a runtime of 1h 33m.
The Babadook was produced by Kristian Moliere, Kristina Ceyton.
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 key characters in The Babadook are Amelia Vanek (Essie Davis), Samuel Vanek (Noah Wiseman), Claire (Hayley McElhinney).
The Babadook is rated R.
The Babadook is a Drama, Horror, Mystery film.
The Babadook has an audience rating of 7.2 out of 10.
The Babadook had a budget of $2M.
The Babadook has made $10.3M at the box office.