Disappointing

Rating: 5/10 (17 January 2015)

Babadook is the debut feature length horror film from Lars Von Trier disciple; Jennifer Kent. The film is also the adaption of an earlier Kent short called Monster.
In this film we are shown the lives of Sam, a mentally troubled child, and Amelia; a windowed orderly on edge from the constant disturbances of her son and the death of her husband. Horror in the film stems from the breakdown of reality between Sam's nightmares and the stress Amelia suffers looking after Sam. Vehicle for action in the film is the appearance of a red book titled The Babadook, a sinister Gothic style book that depicts the demon hanging over their lives. And the plot progresses with Sam and Amelia trying to escape this demon.
The script is obviously in three acts, and there are pacing issue as a result. Characters change abruptly, and the usual "tension- release-tension" method for psychological horrors is over-used. Scares in this film are mainly jump scares; and this style can make the more frightening elements of the film lose gravitas. Also considering the film is designed to have a particular Gothic feel, with oppressive elements such as dark clothing and dreary sets, this oppressiveness of Sam and Amelia's lives bleeds into every aspect of the film, once again distracting from the actual horror.
My main quibble with this film is how derivative it seems, and in my opinion, Kent directly lifts certain themes and scenes from Von Trier himself. Antichrist would be so similar in direction, set and tone that the overlap shows that Kent possibly worships Von Trier and has no other real influences. Another major problem with this film is it lacks any subtlety or subtext, and it can be quite disengaging when things are expressed so literally.
There are some merits to this film; a strong second act and realistic performances from the two main actors. But to me this film just feels like a lost opportunity, Kent had plenty of good ideas but I was just disappointed by Babadook, it felt like a movie where the director was too engaged and couldn't see the glaring flaws.