The Shadow in the Closet: Revisiting The Babadook
When Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook was first released in 2014, it appeared to be just like any other horror movie. It told the story of Amelia, a single mother, and her son Samuel, who was haunted by a shadowy figure and the mysterious pop-up book. Over time, however, Kent’s vision proved to be sophisticated and complex, weaving in the themes of psychological trauma, repression, and most prominently, grief. The story starts with Amelia, the mother played by Essie Davis, who is traumatized by the death of her husband in a car wreck and is trying to cope with her hyperactive son. Mister Babadook, the eerie children’s book that Samuel discovers, propels the movie into a series of terrifying episodes. As the movie unfolds, however, it becomes evident that the most terrifying element is not the supernatural, but the grief Amelia is trying to confront.
The Babadook as a Cultural Icon
The Babadook fueled audience speculation from its earliest screenings. Audiences began to appreciate the creature not only as a physical monster but as a symbolic monster that encapsulated trauma, depression, and the anxieties of motherhood. Long before the film was released, questions flooded online discussion forums: Is the Babadook a ghost? Is Samuel’s behavior a symptom of trauma, or is he possessed by an evil spirit? Fans engaged in heated arguments about the ending’s meaning in which Amelia confronts the Babadook, trapping it in the basement, where she feeds it incessantly, but does not kill it. Many theorized the monster would be neglected and escape, just as unresolved grief would be forever present.
Jennifer Kent described the positive surprise during interviews about the various interpretations people had about the film. Kent also explained that the ‘monster’ was designed to be an ‘emotion’ that was purposefully ambiguous and hard to articulate. Essie Davis also reflected on her role and noted the authenticity she was able to derive from her own experiences of motherhood and anxiety to portray Amelia. In one interview, she mentioned how depicting Amelia’s slow unraveling of the ‘Babadook’ required an interplay of emotional rawness and a calculated mastery of subtle body movements, particularly during the moments of tension where the ‘Babadook’ is strongly suggested but not shown.
Fan Theories and Alternate Endings
Even years after The Babadook’s release, it inspires numerous fan theories. One interesting theory suggests that Samuel and Amelia share a co-dependent relationship concerning their mutual trauma and that the Babadook is a manifestation of their intertwined fear and guilt. Another suggests that the basement is metaphorical limbo where unspeakable emotions are trapped—a lost space in which grief exists to be acknowledged rather than disregarded. Some fans went as far as creating alternate endings to the film in fanfiction and upload videos where the Babadook is shown escaping confinement, and Amelia’s grief is addressed in overtly violent and surreal ways. Kent acknowledged that, although she appreciates such imaginative approaches, the intention behind the original ending—a quiet, unsettling and open conclusion—was to reflect her vision of living with trauma, rather than its absolute erasure.
Behind the Camera: Crafting Fear Through Simplicity
Much like the work of Kent, the production of the film ‘Babadook’ moved to Melbourne, Australia, where it was filmed, and went to the production of the film. Kent filmed the ‘Babadook’ movie on a modest budget. Kent was able to create the ‘Babadook’ through the combination of the practical effects of puppetry and shadow play. He minimized the use of CGI and maintained the use of practical effects to create a psychologically unsettling experience. The psychologically unsettling experience was visceral. Essie Davis remembers the rehearsing of scenes and the work where she had to react to empty spaces. The creature was to be placed in post production. This approach elevated the realism of the horror. The horror is able to focus the attention of the audience.
In addition, the score of the movie ‘Babadook’ by Jed Kurzel focused on building the suspense of the film. The audience was kept on the edge of the seat with low and dissonant sounds. The sounds highlighted the scares and made the audience feel a combination of elevated excitement and terror. Kent drew inspiration from the psychological thrillers. He emphasized that the horror is most effective when it makes an emotional impact in the audience.
Audience Reactions: From Shock to Symbolism
News about the premiere of The Babadook started to spread. It generated buzz as people’s reactions started to become visceral as well as intellectual. The Babadook was praised for its depth and how it was able to transcend horror film tropes. In Australia, as well as internationally, the critics focused on the performances, especially Davis’s, as one of the major forces for the film’s emotional resonance. Social media users started to develop analyses that linked the Babadook to grieving, the complexities of parent-child relationships, and mental health. Later, meme culture even embraced the Babadook as a queer icon, a development that thrilled Kent as she praised the innovative reinterpretations of her art.
The Lasting Legacy and the Actors’ Journeys
For Essie Davis, The Babadook was a career-defining role. It led to significant international recognition and potential for diverse work in film and television. However, she is still appreciative and speaks about the importance of challenging and meaningful material, as opposed to just visibility. Noah Wiseman, who played Samuel, received praise for his role and showed remarkable maturity for his age. He transitioned to other roles that let him work on understanding and portraying difficult emotional layers, indicating that his experience on The Babadook had a significant impact on his acting.
Jennifer Kent, on the other hand, used the success to secure her position as a visionary in psychological horror. She has been the first filmmaker to successfully marry literary metaphor, visual story, and character narrative to control psychological horror. This has inspired many contemporary horror filmmakers who pursue depth as much as terror. She often speaks about the collaborative nature of her work and the authentic performance of her actors that made the film’s raw emotional layers surface.
Living With the Monster
Finally, The Babadook is as much about human emotion as it is about supernatural terror. The monster might linger in the dark, but it represents feelings we all try to avoid: sorrow, shame, and anxiety. Audience enthusiasm, stories from the production, and insights from the actors all enhance the film’s narrative and make it into a living dialogue among the artist, the performer, and the spectator. Engaging with the Babadook, onscreen and off, the actors and the audience are asked to deal with the haunting shadows within, a haunting that is deeply relatable and is never really let go.