Quite Excellent, yet sadly understand the negative reviews

Rating: 8/10 (31 August 2015)

I'll agree with the other positive reviewers about this being an absolute gem. There's incredible suspense, it's often subtle, and there's many ways to view it. Very similar to Kubrick's Shining in a number of ways.
Sadly, there are also far too many people who believe the Saw movie series to be the epitome of horror films. That's why there are so many people who gave bad reviews. There are no jump-scares, there's very little gore, and the characters aren't cardboard. Some of the negative reviewers rightfully hate both the primary characters, yet don't grasp that the *reason* they hate them is central to understanding...
SPOILER
The child IS a horrible little monster, who has been over-indulged by his weak, fawning mother, because she is masking her grief and resentment. The audience is MEANT to hate some of their characteristics.
I only found weakness towards the end of the film. Someone explains the ending as symbolism with a very art-house context within the comments section, and it makes sense through that lens. The mother & child essentially have met their psychotic issues and embraced them. However, using that lens means that the entire film really had to have been the mother's insanity - kind of like the movie Jacob's Ladder
The film could have been absolutely devastating if there was a bit more rationale for the Babadook being retained, and the ending scenes not quite so heavenly. There was a sense of being unfinished - if deliberate, it wasn't a good decision. I waited for some sort of capstone or finale, even wondering if the haunted book would show up in the sister's house.