The Truest Horror of All

Rating: 9/10 (27 March 2017)

Many horror films rely on cheap cinematic thrills or attractive actors to get viewers adrenaline going. Jennifer Kent's The Babadook, however, ignores these conventions and instead chooses to rely on nothing but our own inner demons to shock. After the death of her husband, single mother Amelia is seen struggling to deal with the grief of the loss while also raising her son Samuel. By default, Amelia, just like many parents, choose to ignore these emotions, and prioritizes her son instead. When a monster, who is known as the Babadook, starts to follow and play off the family's fears, viewers watch as this unbreakable bond between mother and son is jeprodized - proving to be one of the scariest aspects of the film. The Babadook is intelligent for the fact that it plays on our personal fears of the struggle with loss, a parent's love, and neglecting our mental health and the issues that tend to arise when we are most vulnerable. Many people who have not experienced a major loss in life will likely find it hard to understand or appreciate this film - which is fine, as that is not Kent's intention. The Australian director is smart in the ways she intricately positions the Babadook, a supernatural monster, as a representation of depression and heartbreak. May it be through the use of imagery, color schemes, or tension, we as viewers are given the indication that the Babadook is not the only thing troubling this family - and Kent want us to know this. We are supposed to be rooting for this duo to finally overcome both the physical and internal obstacles in their lives. By the end of the film, it's almost as if we're not scared by the Babadook itself, but more by how a death of a loved one can consume us until we're the unrecognizable monster ourselves - the truest horror of all.