Written and Directed by Jennifer Kent

I usually brag by saying horror is not my preferred genre, as if this is something to boast about. Laughter. The weird thing about that statement is that I keep watching many productions in that line. Still, I wouldn’t say I like it, but curiosity kills the cat regarding The Babadook. Dang! The movie changed my perspective most profoundly. The coin dropped, mainly because I understood the premise in the first five minutes of the action. I won’t explain why since I hate spoilers, and that production does not deserve it! 

Babadook is an anagram of “a bad book” and was filmmaker Jennifer Kent’s first feature film. It was based on a short film she wrote and directed in 2005 called Monster. She uses a great deal of context to expose psychological terror and its natural origins. To be fair, in a very original and simple way. The most potent message in this production is to warn us of the dangers of ignoring traumas – if we lose control and “they” gain power, it is game over! The direction work is phenomenal; it doesn’t surprise me that her peers have voted her the best director in Australia for this innovative psychological horror film; she has also been awarded the Best Original Screenplay.

The film’s photography completes the sinister and haunted environment coherently and well-made. An environment that encourages processes of self-acceptance but maintains that little thing like there is still something very wrong in the background. Either that, or it’s just the sadness and mourning that will never stop touching our feet, from time to time, for those who have lost someone. Could this be the “bad book”? Would this evil book be capable of killing its victims, repeating the act that made them “sick”? A look at reality may answer those questions, which was the movie’s big catch!

Image courtesy: Umbrella Entertainment