The Babadook
★★½Skip itIs The Babadook worth watching? (No spoilers)
Extremely scary, bone-chilling and intense for most of its runtime, with phenomenal acting, especially from the kid, who puts on one of the best child performances I've seen. The ending doesn't quite finish strong enough, but horror fans should still watch it.
⚠️ Spoiler warning: everything below the quick take, including the full review and ending explained, contains spoilers.
The Babadook review
So close to being amazing. While the entire film was extremely scary, bone chilling, and intense for the first 80%, they just could not finish it.
The ending still left me with chills, and the film is certainly worth the watch for fans of horror, but it just doesn't quite finish strong.
The sound was great, the confusion between if the child or mom or no one was crazy was well done. The acting was fucking phenomenal, especially the main kid. In my opinion one of the best child actors I've ever seen.
So while the babdook may still make me check my closet before I sleep, it's ending stops it from being listed with the greats.
Is The Babadook scary?
Scare level: 3/5
Very. It's built on dread and atmosphere: a creepy pop-up book, knocking, voices, shadows in the dark, and a mother slowly becoming the threat. There are some jump scares, but the real fear is psychological. It made me check my closet before bed. There is very little gore.
The Babadook ending explained
Amelia, a widow still crushed by grief over her husband's death (he died driving her to the hospital to give birth to her son, Samuel), is possessed by the Babadook and nearly kills Samuel. Samuel reaches her, and she vomits up black ooze and confronts the creature. Instead of destroying it, she screams at it and it retreats into the basement.
In the final scenes, Amelia and Samuel are happier. It's Samuel's birthday, and Amelia goes down to the basement with a bowl of worms, feeds the Babadook, and calms it before coming back up.
The Babadook is grief. You can't kill it or make it disappear; you learn to live with it, keep it contained, and 'feed' it a little at a time. That's why it's still in the basement.
My take: the ending still gave me chills, but it's what keeps the film from being one of the greats.
Does The Babadook have a post-credits scene?
No. The Babadook has no mid-credits or post-credits scene.
Movies like The Babadook
- Hereditary (2018) – grief turned into full-blown horror inside a family
- The Father (2020) ★★★★ – a parent losing their grip, told from the inside
- Us (2019) ★★★ – a family horror where the monster is tied to the mom
- The Others (2001) – a mother, her kids and a house that isn't safe