The BabadookA

PLOT SUMMARY

The movie opens with Amelia in a dream sequence. It is a sequence that she has probably been reliving – and tormented by – for seven years. Because that’s how long it has been since her husband died in a car accident and was decapitated. In the dream, she falls back on the bed from the car wreck and onto the bed, where she wakes up and hears her son Samuel calling out to her repeatedly.

In fact, he is such a pest that you immediately figure out – by looking at her disheveled hair, haggard face and eyes that look as lifeless as a poached carp, how exhausted and sleep deprived she is, thanks to Samuel. Samuel builds homemade weapons that he tells his mom will help him defend her from ‘the monster’. Amelia tells him that the monster is a product of his imagination. He has a manic episode at school where he attacks a classmate with a crossbow that shoots darts. She has a confrontation with the school’s authorities and removes him from the school. One night, Sam asks his mother to read from a pop-up storybook he found on his shelf. It is not known exactly how the book ended up in their house. The book is crimson and hardbound and has thick, black pages with pop-up illustrations. It is interesting to note that the style of the artwork in the book (designed by illustrator Alex Juhaszis) ooze evil and creepiness. The images are jagged, and are definitely far from something that will lull kids to sleep. While Samuel seems calm and curious about the book before she starts reading it, he is terrorized by its contents by the time the story comes to an end.

By reading out the story, she lets the Babadook inside their home, and according to the story, once he is in; there is no way to get rid of him. Shortly after this, the tension and sense of dread mounts. Strange events begin occurring throughout the house. Samuel is scared of the closet in his room and what is under his bed. Amelia still insists that he is imagining everything and that there is no monster.

Disturbed more than ever by her son’s behaviour, she rips up the book in a fit of rage and dumps it in a metal rubbish bin outside their home. She then sets the book on fire. Samuel becomes more violent. They go to his cousin Ruby’s birthday party and pushes her out of her tree house when Ruby irritates him by saying that he doesn’t have a dad. As a result of the fall, Ruby breaks her nose in two places. Amelia’s sister Claire loses her reserve and tells her that even she cannot stand to be around Sam. He has a seizure when Amelia and he leave Claire’s place and head back home. On the way, Amelia hallucinates about the Babadook in the car and Samuel has a seizure. Out of desperation, she takes him to a doctor and almost begs him to prescribe a course of sleeping tablets for Samuel until an appointment can be fixed with a psychiatrist.

For a while, things seem okay. There is an uneasy calm. Sam sleeps and allows her to sleep also thanks to the pills which help the both of them. She wakes up rested the next morning and it is late - 11 am - and Sam isn't in his room. She hears knocking at the door, and finds a reassembled and - as she will soon find out - altered "Mister Babadook" storybook on the front step. Alarmed, she takes it inside and reads a new passage about how the monster becomes stronger the more someone denies its existence, and sees new pop-ups that depict a woman killing a dog, strangling a boy to death, and cutting her own throat. Terrified, Amelia burns the book on an outdoor grill. She then gets a phone call where a scary voice taunts her. She thinks she is being stalked. So she goes to the police to report a stalker, but she is turned away when she is unable to produce the storybook and the police officer notices that chalk and pencil was on Amelia's hands, implying that she was the one who made the book but simply forgot. In the police station she also imagines a black coat and hat hung on a wall in the distance to be the Babadook, The desk cop and two in the background look at her oddly. Terrified, she runs out of the cop station. Now, it is she who displays signs of being possessed. She starts hallucinating that bugs are on her. Her son, scared out of his wits, actually becomes docile now and struggles to bring her to her senses. She has visions of her dead husband and is convinced that the Babadook is real.

Samtries to phone a neighbour for help but he is found out by Amelia who cuts the phone line and threatens him with a knife. Ina fit of rage, she breaks the neck of the family dog, as was depicted in the book. She then goes after Samuel, who uses his makeshift weapons to defend himself. He stabs Amelia in the leg. After luring her in the cellar, Samuel binds her and begs her to fight the monster inside her. Amelia vomits up a black, tarry substance. Bloodied and bruised, she hugs Samuel and they think the ordeal is over. But then, Sam is pulled up to Amelia's bedroom and thrashed against the wall. The Babadook then appears and Amelia defiantly warns it that if it harms her son, she'll kill it. Powerless against her, it collapses and rushes to the cellar.

The next scene shows mother and son enjoying his birthday in the outdoors. She makes him sandwiches. Life seems to be normal. She then gets help from Sam to fill a large bowl with worms and takes it to the cellar where the Babadook now dwells. After placing it there, she goes back up to her son to continue with his birthday celebrations. She has tamed the beast but true to the story, it never leaves.

Jennifer Kent's Australian horror film The Babadook starring Essie Davis and Daniel Henshall is out in the theatres.

Here's what people are writing on Twitter about the film...

Positive tweets

So yeah. In retrospect, watching The Babadook during the day instead of 11 at night was a really wise move.

— Jen Chaney (@chaneyj) December 6, 2014

The Academy must go outside their comfort zone and recognize one of the best performances of 2014: Essie Davis in The Babadook. #Oscars

— Chris Stuckmann (@Chris_Stuckmann) December 14, 2014

The Babadook is Edward Gorey meets Repulsion meets The Shining meets The Exorcist by way of Time Bandits.

— Greg Marcks (@gregmarcks) December 13, 2014

Well, there is no way I'm going to sleep tonight. I just saw babadook and am shaking. Well, more than is typical. Which is a lot.

— sexed up salamander (@CalliWoodruff) December 13, 2014

The Babadook is the best horror film I've seen in ages. I was cringing with both excitement & exhilarated fear through every moment of it.

— Classic Carlos (@zootrop0h1) December 13, 2014

Word of warning on the Babadook: If depictions of pretty realistically dysfunctional families is something that sets you off, maybe skip it.

— Chance Turkey (@Blatherpuss) December 13, 2014

The Babadook has really given me second thoughts about being a single mother. (Great psychological thriller, though! Jung would be proud.)

— Peter Szewczyk (@colourbleed) December 13, 2014

Watching the #babadook last night wasn't the best of ideas. I'm such a wuss and kept waking up thinking it was going to eat me up 😂

— Harry Rose (@HarryRose__) December 17, 2014

Damn. Really wishing I hadn't watched Babadook. Now I'm afraid to go anywhere by myself.

— Cameron Allen (@CameronRAllen) December 17, 2014

And now I'm probably gonna start hearing the fucking Babadook's whispers late at night.

— prishxnth. (@prishanthL) December 17, 2014

I really dig about the Babadook how deliberate every shot is. Nothing is wasted, it's all to a purpose, all painfully well thought out.

— DashleyThruTheSnow (@TwistedLadder) December 17, 2014

Whether or not it will give me nightmares is yet to be seen, but the rave reviews for The Babadook are well deserved!

— Shannon Hayes (@shanonymouse) December 17, 2014

Saw the horror movie #babadook. Not very original but the audio was scarier than the visuals...

— Steve Ayscue (@SteveAyscue) December 17, 2014

babadook is making me wonder why most kids who see it coming way early in horror movies don't get more pissed at their parents

— shitharpy (@MarieSwartz) December 17, 2014

The Babadook: Very, very good horror movie with brilliant sound design, albeit with a slightly weird ending. 9.5/10, would watch again.

— Kenyon James (@iRunLikeAKenyon) December 17, 2014

An exquisitely chilling movie. It does something other horror/thriller films cannot do. Gave me chills throughout the movie #Babadook

— Autophile (@D_McNelly) December 17, 2014

How does watching Babadook alone in my recently invaded home rate in terms fr horrible ideas? Still considering it...

— marc wilkinson (@MarcDWilkinson) December 17, 2014

i swear the director of the Babadook movie was high as hell when he made the movie

— heather (@heatherscheeri) December 17, 2014

The Babadook made me ruin my gold stripe trackies but I don't mind it made up for those shit found footage noughties horror films x

— Conor Jude Dowling (@ConorJude) December 17, 2014

Think I might watch The Babadook again tonight, because it's a legit good movie and sleep who needs that

— the8bitlife (@The8bitlife) December 17, 2014

The Babadook last night TIL the best explanation of the film is the Jungian analysis archetype, The Shadow. Makes. So. Much. Sense.

— Huyen Nguyen (@huyenng) December 16, 2014

Okay I admit it. I can't fucking sleep bc I just watched this horror film called The Babadook and my imagination is too wild at night.

— Jeane Grey (@arniearns16) December 16, 2014

Just heard a cat on a fence outside my window and my first thought was "it's a Babadook, don't let it in!"

— Michael Naidos (@Naidos) December 16, 2014

Wasted one hour plus watching babadook. You bring shame to all horror movies. The 'ghost' looked like something of a child's drawing.

— Bree (@AmalHna) December 16, 2014

Oh that's ok, "The Babadook," I was planning on never sleeping again and shitting my pants over unexplained noises anyway!

— Liam Carroll (@mrliamcarroll) December 16, 2014

"The Babadook" before sleeping; good idea, bad idea? Only if you enjoy terror-comas. Because holy shit.

— Jacob Gene (@yakeyames) December 16, 2014

the babadook is just simply frustrating. at first i questioned why it even gets good ratings because it's not scary at all

— jongdumb (@jongdone) December 16, 2014

The Babadook was such a good horror film. The focus on your personal fears instead of cheap scares made it so uniquely delicious.

— grey (@LightMagee) December 16,

2014

Funny tweets

The heavy breathing from the person behind me really added to "The Babadook".

— Douglas Reinhardt (@skeetonmischa) December 6, 2014

Tweeting right now because I'm too scared too look at the tv. Why did I turn on Babadook?! Noooooooo the tweets over

— Sara Hopkins (@Sayhop) December 6, 2014

Excited for all the Babadook inspired nightmares I'm about to have.

— Todd Fasen (@toddfasen) December 6, 2014

i’m watching The Babadook while my girlfriend sleeps so i’m just alone and terrified with my sweater vest zipped to the top of my neck

— VELVEETA BLOODFUXMAS (@PREMIUMPOMPOM) December 13, 2014

i started summarizing the babadook to my mom to scare her & she stopped me with "i KNOW i accidentally watched the trailer for it yesterday"

— shadynasty (@revofsha) December 13, 2014