A deep look into the mind

Rating: 9/10 (28 March 2018)

The Babadook is not your average everyday horror movie, instead of a ghost faced killer or horrific plague, we meet something more sinister, which is the mind. The Babadook does a great job of not showing you all the cards, it keeps you wondering about who/what the babadook really is. While not seeing the usual horror movie jump scares I still found myself at the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next. In the Babadook, we meet Amelia, a single mother struggling to raise her young boy Samuel following her husbands death. The story takes place in Amelia's home as she tries to voyage through life with Samuel. One night while putting Samuel to bed, she decides to read him a story, but this was not just any story, this was The Babadook. The book told the story of a being who comes down in the night and gets you, but this time the story did not stay on the page, instead Samuel began to see the babadook in the home. Samuel does his best to protect him and his mom from danger, but his attempts only create a rift between him and his mother, as the story progresses we see Amelia become more agitated to the point where she is possessed by the Babadook. Amelia, begins trying to kill Sam, forcing sam to use his craftiness to subdue his mother, and defeat the Babadook. In the end, rather than destroying the Babadook, Amelia was able to control it. The only question now is what really was the Babadook. In my opinion this is what makes the movie so great, is does not hold your hand, it forces you to look deeper to find the meaning. This film is a great allegory for mental illness, which is what the Babadook truly presents. In the movie we see as things get tougher for Amelia, the Babadook has a greater effect. That is because the Babadook never existed, it was all in Amelia's mind. As the story came to a close Amelia was able to control her mental illness, which is represented by the worms being consumed. This connects to everyday life, because The Babadook is everywhere, the only difference is it is up to you to decide how dangerous he can truly become.