Site icon Philosophy in Film

Review: The Babadook (2014) ★★★★

<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">No matter how one feels about parenting or the decision to have children&comma; it is abundantly clear that the burden of child-rearing can be an absolute nightmare&period; Despite what Hollywood generally wants us to think&comma; children are frustrating&period; They are either loud or suspiciously quiet&semi; they are temperamental and demanding&semi; they lack reasoning skills and move swiftly from one ridiculous whim to another&period; Children can test the patience of even the most stalwart adult&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">This rant brings me to <em>The Babadook<&sol;em>&comma; an Australian film that is as much a boogeyman story as it is a cautionary tale on the horrors of parenting&period; Essie Davis plays Amelia&comma; an overworked and under-appreciated widow and mother&period; Amelia’s late husband died in a car accident while driving her to the hospital to give birth to their first child&comma; Samuel &lpar;Noah Wiseman&rpar;&period; Thus&comma; Samuel is a daily reminder of the painful event that forever changed their lives&period; Though Amelia loves her son very deeply&comma; he is a curious child whose behavior often causes problems for her and produces silent&comma; and sometimes not-so-silent judgement from others&period; One night&comma; Samuel asks Amelia to read him a bedtime story from a mysterious book called <em>Mister Babadook<&sol;em>&period; The pop-up book’s macabre imagery and tone frighten Samuel&comma; causing Amelia to cut the reading short&period; In the following days&comma; Samuel’s behavior becomes increasingly erratic&comma; and the house is plagued by strange occurrences and apparitions&comma; testing Amelia’s resolve&comma; and even her sanity&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1"><em>The Babadook<&sol;em> succeeds where other horror film’s have failed by seamlessly combining two disparate storylines that share similar themes&period; If one were to remove the fantastic horror from the film&comma; it would simply be a frightening story about a woman driven mad by a problematic child&period; However&comma; if the latter storyline were instead removed&comma; it would just be a story about a supernatural boogeyman haunting a mother and her child&period; Thankfully&comma; the two main components of the film converge to form something far greater than the sum of their parts&period; Parenting is stressful&comma; and boogeymen are frightening&comma; so utilizing both is an ingenious method for creating anxiety-ridden horror&period; Amelia is attacked on all fronts&comma; giving her a sense of isolation that amplifies our identification with her&comma; as well as the sense of sheer terror and confusion&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;1459" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-1459" style&equals;"width&colon; 855px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"wp-image-1459" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;philosophyinfilm&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;07&sol;dibujos-malrolleros-y-posesiones-chungas-con-the-babadook-300x166&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"855" height&equals;"473" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-1459" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">The Babadook &lpar;2014&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">It goes without saying that Essie Davis’ performance is fantastic&period; She fits so naturally into the character that one could imagine it being a reflection of her true self&period; Her rapport with Samuel is not overly sentimental&comma; nor is it cold and uncomfortable&semi; she loves him&comma; and tries her best to navigate the intricacies of his unique personality&comma; while also trying to provide a good life for them both and appease the social demands of being a parent&period; When fellow parents&comma; neighbors&comma; and Samuel’s school add to the stresses of Amelia’s life&comma; she returns home only to be hounded by her past&comma; Samuel’s behavior&comma; and eventually a malevolent spirit&period; She runs out of safe spaces to hide&comma; only to have her mind turn against her completely&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">One aspect of <em>The Babadook<&sol;em> that may deter some from enjoying it to the fullest is the monster itself&period; While the imagery is terrifying and the filmmaker’s do an excellent job developing an atmosphere of anxiety&comma; there are times that the monster takes a backseat to other elements of the story&period; The Babadook is technically the center of the horror&comma; but much more importance is given to the relationship between Amelia and Samuel&comma; allowing for the monster to be an embodiment of their struggles rather than a direct cause&period; It certainly amplifies the horror in their lives&comma; but those viewers looking for a straightforward monster movie might be disappointed with the lack of screen-time the monster receives&period; However&comma; if the film were to focus more on the Babadook as a physical monster terrorizing Amelia&comma; it would cheapen itself&comma; and be less impactful overall&period; The dynamic of a worn-out mother dealing with a particularly complicated child gives rise to more than enough tension to justify sidelining the monster&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">Despite the lack of monster-driven scenes&comma; <em>The Babadook<&sol;em> is an excellent horror film that also ruminates on the complications of parenthood&period; It is both terrifying and enlightening&comma; and showcases the talents of Essie Davis and director Jennifer Kent&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1"><em>The Babadook<&sol;em> is currently available to rent or purchase via Amazon <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;amazon&period;com&sol;gp&sol;product&sol;B00P5968FC&sol;ref&equals;as&lowbar;li&lowbar;qf&lowbar;asin&lowbar;il&lowbar;tl&quest;ie&equals;UTF8&amp&semi;tag&equals;mjones34880c-20&amp&semi;creative&equals;9325&amp&semi;linkCode&equals;as2&amp&semi;creativeASIN&equals;B00P5968FC&amp&semi;linkId&equals;96f2ad6cfc36877120bca36f8b0b20cc"><u>here<&sol;u><&sol;a>&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">Rating&colon; <&sol;span><span class&equals;"s2">&starf;&starf;&starf;&starf;<&sol;span><span class&equals;"s1"> out of 5<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;

Exit mobile version