Film review: The Babadook, directed by Jennifer Kent - at home with horror
The back story is that Australian director Jennifer Kent was once an actor who tired of the profession and sought out movie maverick Lars Von Trier to learn how to work on the other side of the camera. The Danish weirdo must be some teacher if this little gem is anything to go by.
Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman
Director: Jennifer Kent
The back story is that Australian director Jennifer Kent was once an actor who tired of the profession and sought out movie maverick Lars Von Trier to learn how to work on the other side of the camera. The Danish weirdo must be some teacher if this little gem is anything to go by.
In the finest traditions of truly great and inventive horror films, Kent frames her story around that most familiar of institutions: the family. If you peel the layers back, you will find it also has a lot to say about dealing with the past and conquering your personal demons.
And, of course, it's about death, the ultimate in darkness.
Essie Davis plays a widow left to care for a young son after her husband dies - horribly - in a car crash while they are rushing to the maternity ward. That's enough to keep the average person awake at night, but things really amp up when the child asks her to read from a mysterious pop-up book he has found.
It follows the story of a creature called The Babadook and the book seems to have certain, let's say, powers that begin to alter this family's way of life and threaten their existence.