It’s been a decade since the release ofThe Babadook. Written and directed by Jennifer Kent,The Babadookwas one of the most exciting horror exports to come along sinceThe Ringand immediately gained critical and commercial acclaim.The Babadookreceived praise fromfilm critic Mark Kermodeand director William Friedkin as an unrelenting tour-de-force that shocked audiences and inspired discussion pertaining to its content. Most of the story takes place in a confined space and features a look at someone spiraling downwards into a pit of despair, something certainly reminiscent ofRepulsionandThe Haunting.Jennifer Kent succeeded in making audiences afraid of the monster that might be lurking under their bed again.
Ah, yes. The monster in the closet and under the bed is the basic fear that so many small children possess. Jennifer Kent examined this horror and dread inThe Babadookwhile also touching upon the very real terrors that exist in many families, those being trauma and abuse.The Babadook, while playing on childhood fears and treading familiar ground, uncovered the disruption and discontent of an abusive domestic situation brought on by trauma. InThe Babadook, the monster is very real and represents a manifestation of turmoil.
Trauma, Abuse, and the Cruel Existence of Domestic Dread
In Michael Haneke’sThe Seventh Continent, the Austrian provocateur explores the hidden facets of a family driven to the depths of despair and the ways in which children can sometimes act out if they are in a living situation that’s unhealthy or detrimental to their existence.The Babadookplays out in a very familiar scenario, with Amelia Venek (Essie Davis), still dealing from the trauma caused by the death of her husband, attempting to raise her son, Sam (Noah Wiseman).Amelia’s existence is one of constant stress, be it with her job at an elderly care facility or the constant strain of trying to raise Sam, who’s acting out at school and continually causing turmoil at home and in social interactions.
Many of Sam’s behaviors are cited by psychologists assymptomatic of children who live in abusive households or are neglected. Children who exist in these situations will commonly act out and seek attention elsewhere, and they’re prone to what’s referred to as externalizing behaviors. A contributing factor to some of these behaviors might be cycles of familial abuse or poor mental health, which is something we see with Amelia, whose continuous stress is displayed throughout the film.
Kent establishes this domestic situation early on, andthe Babadook’s introduction through a children’s pop-up book allows the monster to represent the manifestation of trauma and neglect as the familial situation slowly begins to unravel for Amelia and Sam. After reading the book to Sam, Amelia starts to display further signs of post-traumatic stress, and Sam exhibits more behaviors related to abused or neglected children,insisting that the monster is realand not a figment of his imagination.The Babadookuses the monster to further the aspects of the household in complete and utter disarray and examine the dichotomy of reality and fantasy.
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Isolation and a Growing Fear of the Unknown
It’s almost impossible to provide analytical discourse aboutThe Babadookwithout mentioning two films that are virtually unmatched in the annals of horror:RepulsionandThe Haunting.Both films utilize isolated and confined spaces to their full potential, provide a character study of someone unrevealing at the seams, and continually play with the basic perception of reality and imagination.
The aspect of the monster being real and not simply being a product of Sam’s pop-up book slowly begins to take a toll on Amelia, whose daily life becomes one of unrelenting stress and dread.Kent’s use of confined spaces inThe Babadook, which shows Amelia gradually lose grip of reality and begin imagining that the creature is real, harkens back to Catherine Deneuve’s performance inRepulsion. In Polanski’s film, the confined space of an apartment building becomes one where the real phobia of human interaction is interspersed with paranoid delusions, the audience wondering if these happenings are real or all contained within the mind of the central protagonist.
Amelia, who begins to suffer from the effects of sleep deprivation, begins imagining the creature popping up from time to time. Glued to her television set each night, there’s a possibility that these occurrences are merely influenced by the horror movies she watches.The concept of supernatural behavior having a rational explanation and a character continuing to lose their grip on reality was central toThe Haunting. An adaptation ofThe Haunting of Hill Houseby Shirley Jacksonand directed by Robert Wise,The Hauntingshowcased a character study of multiple individuals in a haunted house. Eleanor, the main character, exhibits stress before arriving at the house and slowly begins to lose touch with reality, the audience never knowing what’s real or simply a delusion.
As Amelia and Sam’s relationship becomes more fraught with behaviors found in an abusive relationship,the audience is continually forced to examine whether this is simply a case of stress-induced neglect or whether the Babadook is a real entity. It can be assumed that if the former of these situations is the culprit and not the latter, then the Babadook is the manifestation of all the events that have led to the domestic turmoil. Some of horror’s most endearing and memorable aspects, be they in film or the written word, have thrived on the unknown and what the audience fails to grasp.The Babadookthrives on a basic childhood fear, sets it in an environment of trauma and abuse, and continually forces the audience to ponder the nature of reality, fantasy, and delusion.
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What We’ve Learned from ‘The Babadook’
The Babadook
Ten years after its release,The Babadookstill manages to incite conversation. Jennifer Kent’s film takes the basic childhood fear of a monster,integrates the character studyof a grown-up gradually losing her grip on reality, andshines a light on behavior patterns that are commonplace with cases of abuse and neglect. Besides shocking audiences with its content,The Babadookfinds a way to dig deep into the real-life horrors that continue to exist in many domestic situations. Perhaps we can learn a great deal about the real monsters who permeate the world in which we exist.The Babadookreminds us that what happens behind closed doors is a true horror that we must confront.Stream on Netflix.
