--- title: "The Babadook" year: 2014 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-babadook" fi1m_score: 86 critics_score: 85 critics_reviews: 21 published: "2026-09-16T12:59:37.967371+00:00" updated: "2026-09-16T12:59:38.325727+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Babadook (2014) Directed by Jennifer Kent · 1h 34m · MPA NR · Drama, Horror **Fi1m score: 86** · Critics 85 from 21 reviews *In a sentence:* A mother this exhausted should at least be allowed a book that behaves itself > Jennifer Kent’s domestic horror is frightening because Essie Davis makes an exhausted mother’s resentment so credible. The pressure can become wearing, and the creature is less persuasive when seen, but the family gives us ample reason to care. ## Synopsis Amelia Vanek (Essie Davis) is raising her son, Samuel Vanek (Noah Wiseman), alone, with grief already making their life together difficult. Samuel’s demands exhaust her, and she struggles to keep resentment out of her dealings with him. Then a pop-up book introduces The Babadook (Tim Purcell), a figure that brings another fear into their home. Amelia wants to care for Samuel and regain some control over their days, but his fears and her own distress make that harder. The book gives their troubles a shape neither of them can comfortably dismiss. ## Review *The Babadook* is a frightening, compassionate horror film, even if its sustained pressure becomes tiring. Jennifer Kent, who writes and directs, takes seriously the possibility that a mother can love her child and resent having to care for him. The supernatural threat enters a home where grief and exhaustion have already made ordinary family life difficult. That gives the familiar business of a sinister book and a lurking creature something worth being frightened for: these people are struggling before the haunting has properly begun. Essie Davis makes Amelia Vanek’s fatigue uncomfortable to watch because it affects how she responds to her son, not simply how miserable she looks. Her resentment is credible enough to make sympathy awkward. We understand why she needs relief, then worry about what that need might permit. The performance never asks us to congratulate Amelia for coping, and it never settles for making her a bad mother. We keep watching for the point at which she might no longer be able to conceal her anger. Noah Wiseman pushes Samuel Vanek’s neediness hard, and there are stretches when the child’s demands feel almost unbearable. That is a risky choice: irritation can make an audience stop caring, however sound the reason for it. Here, his fear remains clear enough that we cannot simply wish him out of the way. The strain between the performances makes the mother-son relationship painful without making either character disposable. Radosław Ładczuk’s precise compositions keep the domestic setting claustrophobic, with little sense that looking elsewhere will help. Alex Holmes’s production design makes the home feel cramped and unwelcoming, an effective setting for the pop-up book’s handmade horrors. The deliberate artificiality works because the performances supply the ordinary human discomfort; the setting can be strange without making the people seem remote. We were frightened by the book, whose familiar invitation to turn a page becomes something a parent cannot safely accept. Simon Njoo’s editing gives the unease time to accumulate, and the slow build lets us register the strain on the relationship. We are not simply waiting for the creature’s next appearance. The pauses matter because Amelia and Samuel have become difficult company even without supernatural assistance. A scene does not need a fresh shock to leave us more anxious than we were at its beginning, provided it keeps our attention on the mother and son. Jed Kurzel’s music helps keep the quieter stretches unsettled, contributing to a use of sound that offers little rest. It works, but it also makes the film harder to bear than it always needs to be. A little more relief would sharpen the next disturbance. The creature’s more physical appearances are less persuasive, too, making the threat easier to inspect when the family’s fear of it has already been so convincing. Those are real limitations, though neither undoes the work of the two leads. Within domestic horror, the haunted home can become an excuse to move frightened people between rooms. This film stays interested in what makes it difficult for a mother and son to share those rooms in the first place. At 94 minutes, it gives grief and resentment enough attention that recognising the symbolism does not exhaust what the performances offer. Choose it for the performances, and do not expect much relief. *Fi1m score 86, published 16 September 2026.* ## What the critics say The consensus is firmly positive, with all 21 reviews praising The Babadook’s treatment of grief, maternal strain and domestic fear. Most critics find the troubled mother-son relationship central to its power, and praise clusters around Essie Davis’s portrayal of exhaustion, resentment and distress. Noah Wiseman also earns recognition for his part in making that relationship credible. The reviews repeatedly credit Jennifer Kent’s controlled direction, handcrafted effects, sound and meticulous visual design with building dread without relying on cheap shocks. The differences concern how frightening the film is and how well it sustains that pressure. The Hollywood Reporter finds the psychological unease stronger than the scares, while Collider finds the unrelenting tension exhausting. Digital Spy identifies weaker moments when the monster appears physically. These are qualifications within an entirely positive response: enthusiasm ranges from measured appreciation of the craft to emphatic praise for its emotional force. ### Reviews we read (21) - **Time Out**, Joshua Rothkopf (5/5): Kent's slow-building, expertly unnerving horror about a broken Australian family and a sinister pop-up book is female-centric and rigorously non-digital, with crisp compositions and a riveting lead performance from Essie Davis. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-babadook) - **Empire**, Kim Newman (90/100, inferred): Kent's assured first feature is one of the strongest horror films of recent years, gripping and horribly credible with awards-quality work from Essie Davis and a brilliantly designed monster. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/babadook-review/) - **Evening Standard**, Charlotte O'Sullivan (90/100, inferred): Kent's debut is the most haunting chiller of the year, a moving and funny portrait of grief that gets under the skin with its lo-fi effects and credible performances. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/the-babadook-film-review-9816102.html) - **The AV Club**, A.A. Dowd (A-): The real horror lies in the strained mother-son relationship and undigested grief rather than the monster itself. Kent stages familiar material with panache and the film has uncommon emotional intensity thanks to Essie Davis's alarming performance. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/the-babadook-is-metaphorically-rich-and-pretty-damn-sca-1798182049) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (90/100, inferred): The critic praises the film's masterly control and superb acting as a tense, claustrophobic Freudian chiller about a mother and son. He singles out the sound design and the way it explores themes of grief and parenting through a supernatural tale. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/oct/23/the-babadook-review-chilling-freudian-thriller) - **Variety**, Scott Foundas (90/100, inferred): The critic calls it an accomplished and imaginative psychological horror tale that delivers seat-grabbing jolts while touching on themes of loss and grief. It singles out the meticulous design and direction that blend references to early cinema and fairy tales. [Read](https://variety.com/2014/film/reviews/film-review-the-babadook-1201088892/) - **Vulture** (90/100, inferred): It is a phenomenally scary chiller that is essentially an epic struggle within a mother's mind over grief and resentment toward her child. The film offers marvelous ghoulish images and a new way to view the stresses of family life. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2014/11/movie-review-the-babadook.html) - **Slant Magazine** (85/100, inferred): The film is a shattering psychological study whose supernatural aspect serves as catalyst for exploring fractured psyches and the primordial fears of single motherhood. It escalates from eerie mood to Grand Guignol madness while re-appropriating genre tropes with assurance. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-babadook/) - **The New Yorker**, Anthony Lane (85/100, inferred): The critic calls it a fine film that restores horror to emotional inquiry by making the peril feel partly of the mother's own making rather than purely external. It singles out the stop-motion book sequence and the way the story tames the nightmare instead of simply vanquishing it. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/12/01/keeping-secrets-2) - **Total Film** (85/100, inferred): Kent's feature debut is both a terrific spook story and a moving ode to mourning, with extraordinary performances from Davis and Wiseman and a title that sounds scary. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/the-babadook-review/) - **Little White Lies**, Chris Blohm (3/4/3): Kent's creepy corker is an eerie, unsettling and promising debut from an exciting new talent, riven with grief and fuelled by ambiguity and slow-burn dread rather than cheap shocks. It culminates in a witty, unexpected finale. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/the-babadook) - **Los Angeles Times**, Betsy Sharkey (80/100, inferred): The critic describes a smart, darkly drawn modern horror tale centered on a mother's love and the monsters of memory. It singles out Essie Davis's standout performance that conveys the rising resentment, fear, and rage as sanity slips away. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-babadook-review-20141128-column.html) - **Radio Times**, Alan Jones (4/5): Jennifer Kent's striking debut is a bold psychological horror owing as much to Polanski as Dahl, an intensely emotional allegory on grief, guilt and maternal trauma. Essie Davis delivers a monumental performance as the anguished mother confronting the monstrous Babadook. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-gpt3zv/the-babadook/) - **IndieWire**, Steve Greene (70/100, inferred): The film adds depth to familiar genre trappings for a chilling effect at its Sundance premiere. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/sundance-review-midnight-horror-the-babadook-adds-depth-to-familiar-genre-trappings-to-chilling-effect-31114/) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, David Rooney (70/100, inferred): The film is a distinctive domestic horror story physicalizing unresolved traumas as a malevolent entity. It is stronger in psychological unease than frights, driven by a standout performance from Essie Davis and a handcrafted pre-digital style. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/babadook-sundance-review-673048/) - **The New York Times**, A.O. Scott (Critic's Pick): The critic finds the film a skillful horror debut that plays on deep ambiguities about whether the monster is supernatural or a manifestation of grief and maternal stress. It singles out the visual and aural techniques that build dread alongside the psychological layers of the mother-son relationship. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/28/movies/in-the-babadook-a-frightfully-unwelcome-guest.html) - **Den of Geek**, Ryan Lambie (5/5): The critic calls it a terrifying film with genuine poignancy and depth that employs genre trappings creatively and with real intelligence. They single out Essie Davis's emotionally bare performance and the intimate mother-son pairing for particular praise. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-babadook-review-2/) - **Digital Spy**, Ben Rawson-Jones (90/100, inferred): The critic describes it as a magnificently disconcerting intelligent psychological study of loneliness, trauma and a mother's bond with her child that will cause many nightmares. They single out the brilliant performances from the two leads for praise while noting weaker moments when the monster appears physically. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a605612/the-babadook-review-a-wonderfully-disconcerting-chiller/) - **/Film**, Russ Fischer (9/10): The critic calls it one of the best horror movies in years, a vigorous and hellishly intense story about a family on the edge of sanity. They single out the strong performances by Essie Davis and Noah Wiseman for praise, particularly how they convey the emotional turmoil of grief. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/529952/babadook-review/) - **The Wrap**, Inkoo Kang (90/100, inferred): The critic calls it the year's best horror film and a powerful exploration of ambivalent motherhood. They single out the empathetic, true-to-life portrayal of the exhausted single mother and her difficult son as the film's core strength. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/the-babadook-review-jennifer-kent-horror/) - **Collider**, Matt Goldberg (B): The film is a well-crafted, dread-filled horror debut that effectively gets under the skin with its atmosphere and symbolism of maternal guilt, but it becomes exhausting due to unrelenting tension without relief. [Read](https://collider.com/the-babadook-review-jennifer-kent/) ## Details - **Director:** Jennifer Kent - **Director:** Jennifer Kent - **Writer:** Jennifer Kent - **Cinematography:** Radosław Ładczuk - **Editor:** Simon Njoo - **Music:** Jed Kurzel - **Production design:** Alex Holmes - **Costume design:** Heather Wallace - **Producer:** Kristina Ceyton, Kristian Moliere - **Cast:** Essie Davis as Amelia Vanek; Noah Wiseman as Samuel Vanek; Hayley McElhinney as Claire; Daniel Henshall as Robbie; Barbara West as Gracie Roach; Benjamin Winspear as Oskar Vanek; Cathy Adamek as Prue; Craig Behenna as Warren - **Runtime:** 1h 34m - **Certificate (MPA):** NR - **Release (the US):** 28 November 2014 - **Genres:** Drama, Horror - **Budget:** $2 million - **Box office:** $10 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88DDAyYkvis ## Where to watch in the US - MUBI: streaming, hd, leaving 2026-10-01 - AMC+: streaming - The Roku Channel: free, hd - Amazon Prime Video: add-on - Apple TV: add-on, hd - The Roku Channel: add-on, hd - Amazon Prime Video: rent $2.99, sd - Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $9.99, hd - Apple TV: buy $9.99, hd *Checked 2026-09-16.* Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, IE, IN, IT, LT, MX, NO, NZ, PA, SE, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role 2014: AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role (nominated) - AACTA Award for Best Direction 2014: AACTA Award for Best Direction (won) - AACTA Award for Best Editing 2014: AACTA Award for Best Editing (nominated) - AACTA Award for Best Film 2014: AACTA Award for Best Film (won) - AACTA Award for Best Original Screenplay 2014: AACTA Award for Best Original Screenplay (won) - AACTA Award for Best Production Design 2014: AACTA Award for Best Production Design (nominated) ## If you liked this - *The Innocents* (1961): A watchful performance and troubled children make every room feel unsafe. - *Dark Water* (2002): Another mother struggles to protect her child while her surroundings turn hostile. - *The Spirit of the Beehive* (1973), Fi1m 87: A child’s fascination with a screen monster makes for quieter, lingering unease. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-spirit-of-the-beehive.md) - *Under the Shadow* (2016): Maternal fear takes physical form inside a home already threatened by war. - *Relic* (2020): Family care becomes frightening when a familiar house stops making sense. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/the-babadook