Based on its title alone, The Babadook may sound like a ridiculous, tongue-in-cheek name for a horror movie, like the name of a made-up boogeyman. Looking closer into the story, this assumption isn't too far from the truth – the monster does come straight from the pages of a book into the real world, but the crushing impact that he represents is far from laughable. However, fans on the Internet may disagree, given the number of memes that came as a result of this monster being introduced.
The Babadook combines dark visuals and a recognizable antagonist with recognizable real-life feelings that contribute to overall negative circumstances. This Australian film was rated at a staggering 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, proving its worth as a piece of artistic excellence with a lot to offer audiences everywhere. Its critical reception turned out to be stellar across the globe, with its popularity expanding more as it became an iconic facet of the genre. The Babadook is certainly a modern masterpiece as opposed to an overrated film.
Personified Portrayal of Grief
Directed and written by Jennifer Kent, The Babadook offers an intimate close-up at how grief affects a family unit. Several horror movies explore this idea. This film in particular visually captures the way it creeps into your heart and home without you realizing the graveness of it until it's too late. In the story, the death of Amelia's husband, Oskar, hangs over her and their son Samuel like a dark cloud. This loss seems to transform from a quiet, underlying mourning into an oppressive physical force that can't be ignored when the Babadook comes out into the open. Once his presence is felt, the monster moves further into one's life, infiltrating a family to its core. As the storybook says, "If it's in a word, or it's in a look, you can't get rid of the Babadook." This is only possible when Amelia faces him head on, and even makes peace with his residence in her basement at the end of the film. Grief may always be there under the surface, but there are ways to tame it and subdue it over time.
The bleak vibe that this film relies on to create a dark sense of unease in its audience comes largely from its color palette, which is somewhat limited. Some horror movies rely on at least a bit of recurring color that often corresponds to the themes of the story, and the heavy gray and black tones that permeate The Babadook are really all that the film needs to create dread and hopelessness in its audience. For a significant portion of the film, it quite literally looks like all the positivity and vibrancy has been drained out of Amelia and Samuel's lives.
Unique and Experimental Elements
The film's title itself is enough to encourage audience members to look closer into the story, to see whether the movie is indeed as strange as its name – and it absolutely is, but maybe not in the way you'd think. It doesn't rely on too many tropes to appear campy, solidifying the true horror at its core. What appears to be a monster movie with a creepy kid and a mean mom quickly becomes a commentary on mental health after a loved one's death. For a story that centers around a small family unit and tests their bond through the fog of grief, it's shocking that Amelia kills their dog and then turns on Sam. But this exposes the Babadook's influence, drawing out the darkest parts of her as someone we'd least expect to snap like that – especially interpreted as a metaphor for mourning.
With the Babadook's long-fingered, Nosferatu-looking exterior, some sequences encourage viewers to believe they're watching something much older than a movie made in 2014. This adds to the film's timeless feeling, something that many modern horror films don't evoke. The making of The Babadook included heavy physical practical effects, like manipulating figurines through stop-motion instead of creating a simple computer-generated creature, according to a Rolling Stone article.
The Babadook as a Pop Culture Figure
If you've spent any time in social media film circles over the past few years since The Babadook was released, you may already know that the titular creature is somewhat of a celebrity. At face value, the Babadook's mysterious nature is somewhat malleable, adding an air of mystery to an already winding story with much more meaning beneath its surface. But the monster's presence and aesthetic are also recognizable, quickly boosting up his online popularity. This alone was enough for Internet users to dub him a member of the LGBTQ+ community, and an iconic one at that.
The idea originated on Tumblr, and according to a Vanity Fair article that recapped the phenomenon, director Jennifer Kent told Bloody Disgusting, "I love that story...I think it’s crazy and just kept him alive." This reputation also strengthened when The Babadook was allegedly added to Netflix's LGBT Movies subsection, although another article from Vox claims that the photo may have been altered. Whatever the case may be, this discourse spurred on a new legion of fans, and helped to shed some light on such a dark story. It helps to cement The Babadook as an important entry into modern pop culture, and not the overrated horror film it may appear to be.