Babadook (2014)

My first reaction is--what the fuck?

This one is complicated. No matter how you look at this movie, it leaves you feeling uncomfortable.

I think there's some very real psychological stuff in this movie. What if you did have a child that you just didn't like and didn't want? What if you were also alone in all this and had no support group? Would you start to go crazy?

I am pretty much going into the team mental illness versus team real monster on this. My best guess, without wanting to spend a whole lot of time dwelling on it, is that the mom had a mental break. I think they portrayed with some accuracy how stressful it would be to have a child with a behavior disorder, on top of being a grieving single mother. They show in the beginning a sense of this child consistently clinging to her, not letting her sleep, pulling her hair at night, screaming, having severe episodes. I've read some stories of parents with challenged children, and I don't know how they do it. In no way to be insensitive at all, I have often asked myself, if I had to raise a child with a mental handicap or disability, would I be able to do it? I feel a scary sense inside that I would not be able to handle it.

But see, this is where the movie takes you. It's supposed to be a scary movie, not quite horror, not quite a thriller, lost in limbo somewhere. There are parts of this movie that are chilling, like when it seems the mom is floating across the floor and she looks possessed, or when she's tied up in the basement and tries to choke her son. There's also some very strange Jacob's Ladder/Requiem for a Dream quality to it.

One thing to keep in mind when pondering Babadook, is that at her niece's birthday party, she stated she used to be a writer, and of children's books. Being armed with this bit of knowledge, I believe she in fact wrote the Babadook book herself, so that also leans my opinion that this was a case of mental illness and no scary monster in the house. 

Also, there were times where the Babadook actually reminded me of Stitch from Lilo and Stitch, particularly when it was hanging around near the ceiling and all you saw was a black blob and silver teeth.

I would recommend anyone to watch it. It's different. It feels different than other movies. I can't say that you will enjoy it, as I don't feel any particular sense of gratification after seeing it. Echoing the sentiments from other's comments I have seen online, it probably is a conversation starter at the very least. I also love that it is an Australian/Canadian film. How other countries approach a film can be very refreshing.