The Babadook

The Babadook (2014) is a deep exploration of the effects of denying grief. It's a scary look at the life of a young mother whose husband was killed in a car accident on the way to the hospital to deliver their son. The son is now 7 years old. The pair is deeply disturbed. There is no gore here, more psychological terror than the more traditional jump scene-dependent horror movie. I highly recommend this one.

I'll wager with you, I'll make you a bet. The more you deny, the stronger I get.

trailer:

The Rolling Stone has a fascinating article on the inspiration of the film. The Atlantic says, "Those lucky enough to have already seen the movie, which the director of The Exorcist called the most terrifying film he'd ever seen, quickly realized it wasn't quite about the titular boogeyman itself". The New York Times has a positive review.

Entertainment Weekly opens their positive review with this:

Any parent with young kids lives in a constant, almost paralyzing state of fear that they won’t be able to protect them from danger. It may be the most primal emotion there is. Maybe that’s why Aussie director Jennifer Kent’s bogeyman chiller The Babadook zapped me with the high-voltage force of a cattle prod.

Empire Online concludes: "One of the strongest, most effective horror films of recent years — with awards-quality lead work from Essie Davis, and a brilliantly designed new monster who could well become the break-out spook archetype of the decade." Slate describes it as "a terrifyingly great horror movie about motherhood". Village Voice calls it "a rare horror triumph". Slant Magazine says, "It's a shattering psychological study whose supernatural aspect is a mere catalyst or perhaps even misdirection."

Moria says, "The Babadook belongs more to a school of psychological horror – if it has an ancestor it is surely Roman Polanski’s Repulsion (1965), which follows the mental disintegration of a woman as she remains locked inside her apartment where her sanity begins to crumble to the point she has a difficulty distinguishing between reality and nightmare." DVD Talk calls it "a winner".

The Guardian says,

It got a rapturous response at the Sundance festival when it was first screened earlier this year and has received uniformly positive reviews. Kim Newman, the doyen of horror film criticism, described it this month as “one of the strongest, most effective horror films of recent years” which “imparts a lingering sense of dread that will stay with you for days”.

Roger Ebert's site says, "Kent’s directorial strategy is a marvel." Rotten Tomatoes has a 98% critics score.