--- title: "The Babadook: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-babadook/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-babadook" critics_score: 85 critics_reviews: 21 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): what the critics said Critics' score 85 from 21 reviews: 21 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative. 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. ## Time Out — Joshua Rothkopf Rating 5/5. 23 January 2014. 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 the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-babadook) ## Empire — Kim Newman Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 15 August 2014. 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 the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/babadook-review/) ## Evening Standard — Charlotte O'Sullivan Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 24 October 2014. 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 the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/the-babadook-film-review-9816102.html) ## The AV Club — A.A. Dowd Rating A-. 25 November 2014. 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 the review](https://www.avclub.com/the-babadook-is-metaphorically-rich-and-pretty-damn-sca-1798182049) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 23 October 2014. 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 the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/oct/23/the-babadook-review-chilling-freudian-thriller) ## Variety — Scott Foundas Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 5 February 2014. Festival review. 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 the review](https://variety.com/2014/film/reviews/film-review-the-babadook-1201088892/) ## Vulture Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 26 November 2014. 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 the review](https://www.vulture.com/2014/11/movie-review-the-babadook.html) ## Slant Magazine Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 20 March 2014. 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 the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-babadook/) ## The New Yorker — Anthony Lane Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 24 November 2014. 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 the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/12/01/keeping-secrets-2) ## Total Film Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 21 October 2014. 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 the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/the-babadook-review/) ## Little White Lies — Chris Blohm Rating 3/4/3. 23 October 2014. 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 the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/the-babadook) ## Los Angeles Times — Betsy Sharkey Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 26 November 2014. 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 the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-babadook-review-20141128-column.html) ## Radio Times — Alan Jones Rating 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 the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-gpt3zv/the-babadook/) ## IndieWire — Steve Greene Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 18 January 2014. Festival review. The film adds depth to familiar genre trappings for a chilling effect at its Sundance premiere. [Read the review](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 Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 21 January 2014. Festival review. 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 the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/babadook-sundance-review-673048/) ## The New York Times — A.O. Scott Rating Critic's Pick. 28 November 2014. 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 the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/28/movies/in-the-babadook-a-frightfully-unwelcome-guest.html) ## Den of Geek — Ryan Lambie Rating 5/5. 20 October 2014. 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 the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-babadook-review-2/) ## Digital Spy — Ben Rawson-Jones Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 24 October 2014. 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 the review](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a605612/the-babadook-review-a-wonderfully-disconcerting-chiller/) ## /Film — Russ Fischer Rating 9/10. 26 November 2014. 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 the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/529952/babadook-review/) ## The Wrap — Inkoo Kang Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 24 November 2014. 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 the review](https://www.thewrap.com/the-babadook-review-jennifer-kent-horror/) ## Collider — Matt Goldberg Rating B. 28 November 2014. 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 the review](https://collider.com/the-babadook-review-jennifer-kent/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-babadook.md