The Babadook

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Tyler, Kate, Michael, Jordan

It's so nice to see another Australian horror film, and one that's done well overseas. This one has a great sense of atmosphere, helped a great deal by the lighting, sound and production design. The editing and the music, just the tech stuff in general is all fantastic. And I really loved the design of the Babadook too.

The two leads have a huge task here to pull off. There's some very big stuff they have to play and I'd say for the most part I think they pull it off effectively. Especially considering one of them is only 6.

The story itself is very simple and perhaps a little bit too on the nose. It's an obvious metaphor and one we've seen before. I think the climax was a little overly extended too but there were some really great sequences and build up of tension.

It's almost humorous how literally they take this concept of being possessed by grief and play it out a conclusion that almost seemed like the start of a 80's fantastic realism sitcom. However before that, things are surreal and creepy. And there's an uncertainty at the end of how much was real or not. I had fun with this one.