An intelligent movie that does not patronise the audience
Director: Jennifer Kent
Starring: Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Tim Purcell, Hayley McElhinny, Barbara West, Daniel Henshall
Rating: 15
Running Time: 93 mins
Release Date: 24 October 2014
The glum lighting and colour scheme of THE BABADOOKÂ sets the tone from the very beginning of the movie. You know from the off that the suffocating atmosphere of this film isn’t going to let up for a second, this is a really clever directorial choice as it is exactly the experience that the main character is having.
Depression and mental illness is a very important factor in this film so the unrelenting depressing tone of the film itself is intended to echo for the audience, the feeling that the lead character has.
The opening scene is very effective, the blackness surrounding the characters in these dream sequences is subtle but has a noticeable effect. The moment where Amelia floats from the ceiling to the bed is a very good observation, the floating sensation and disorientation is something that a lot of people can identify with when it comes to nightmares. This dream sequence tells us everything we need to know about Essie Davis‘ character’s past, the movie wastes no time in getting the origin story out-of-the-way so that we can dive straight into the story. Rather than patronise the audience with flashbacks that just tell us what happened to Amelia’s husband, this is done in a quick dream sequence and dialogue between characters.
I found the colours of the house itself very interesting, the paint on the wall and bannisters are all similar colours to the artwork in the book. Almost giving the feeling that the characters are trapped in the story, locked in the horror of the Mister Babadook myth. From the first appearance of the Mister Babadook book the creeping presence of evil could be felt. It is clear that Mister Babadook is a product of the mother’s mental illness and not actually a real evil spirit. However, that doesn’t stop him from being absolutely terrifying. In fact it makes him more scary because people can mentally slip and do things that they wouldn’t normally do because they are being haunted by something in their mind.
The first reading of Mister Babadook is a very strong scene, mainly because of the book itself, the words are aggressive and the imagery dark. The idea of a children’s book that at first looks harmless but turns out to be something quite threatening and strange is a really good idea that hasn’t really been explored in horror.
Things slowly gather speed after Amelia and Samuel first read the book, many tactics are used to remind the viewer of the evil force that lurks. A really interesting technique that was used even when nothing was happening was the intentionally uneven volume of various sounds. Noises that should be pretty small such as a book being slid across a table were oddly loud. This may be an attempt to show the effects of over tiredness, everything does sound load when you are really tired and irritable. This is another blatant hint that Essie Davis‘ character is losing it and therefore Mister Babadook is imaginary.
There were a number of clever techniques used in this film, the writing of Jennifer Kent can not be understated. For example as Amelia really starts being consumed by the Babadook she at one point uses the three word repetition in her own speech. The repeating words from the book has begun penetrating real life, getting under the character’s skin.
There is so much in this movie that you could watch it again and again, finding new things every time. There are a number of hints and references that foreshadow coming events, for example; the cartoons providing a visual clue as to what is about to happen. If you go back and watch THE BABADOOKÂ again you will see that in one scene Amelia is watching a cartoon in which a wolf disguises itself as a sheep. This is of course a reference to the phrase “A wolf in sheep’s clothing”, a short time afterwards she becomes evil, taken over by the spirit of The Babadook. Much like the wolf slips on sheep skin and disguises itself as something friendlier, the evil Mister Babadook disguises himself as the boy’s mother.
I could go on and on about this movie, it really is genius, we need more intelligent horror movies like this that don’t patronise their audience or rely too much on simple horror tropes.
Verdict
