You can't get rid of the Babadook
Amelia, an orderly, has raised her son Samuel alone following her husband's death. Sam begins displaying erratic behavior: he rarely sleeps through the night and is preoccupied with an imaginary monster, which he has built weapons to fight. Amelia is forced to take her son out of school due to his behavioural problems. One night, Sam asks his mother to read from a mysterious pop-up storybook he finds on his shelf. The story, ''Mister Babadook'', is about a supernatural creature—once someone is made aware of its existence, the monster torments that person indefinitely. Amelia is disturbed by the book's contents, while a traumatised Sam becomes convinced that the Babadook is stalking them in their home.
Strange events begin occurring throughout the house: doors open and close on their own, Amelia finds glass in her food, and strange sounds are heard with no apparent source. Amelia attributes the events to Sam's behaviour, but he insists that the Babadook is responsible. Amelia rips up the ''Mister Babadook'' book and disposes of it. At his cousin Ruby’s birthday party, Sam pushes Ruby out of a treehouse after she refuses to believe in the Babadook and teases Samuel for not having a father. Amelia’s sister, Claire, admits she cannot bear to be around Sam, and suspects that Amelia feels the same way. On the drive home from the party, Sam has another vision of the Babadook and suffers a seizure.
Amelia convinces a doctor to prescribe sedatives for Sam to help him sleep, hoping that she will also be able to sleep as a result. One morning, Amelia hears knocking at the door and finds the ''Mister Babadook'' storybook, reassembled, on the front step. The book taunts Amelia, claiming that the more she denies the Babadook's existence, the stronger the monster will get, growing inside her. The book contains new popups of Amelia strangling her dog, killing Sam, and slitting her own throat. Terrified, Amelia burns the book on an outdoor barbecue. After receiving an eerie phone call, Amelia tries to convince the police that she is being harassed by a stalker, but is turned away when she is unable to produce the storybook.
Amelia begins to see the Babadook wherever she goes, and does not sleep for several consecutive nights. With her mental health deteriorating, Amelia becomes hostile and shows signs that she intends to harm Sam. After Sam phones a neighbour for help, Amelia becomes enraged, cutting the phone lines. She then encounters an apparition of her deceased husband in the cellar, who asks her to bring Sam to him. After running away from the cellar, the Babadook materializes then gives chase to Amelia, possessing her. She kills the family dog (as the book had earlier depicted), and pulls out one of her teeth. During an altercation, Sam stabs Amelia in her leg and lures her back into the cellar, which he has booby trapped to combat the Babadook. Sam manages to incapacitate his mother, and pleads with her to fight the monster inside her. While nearly choking Sam, Amelia momentarily comes to her senses when Sam tenderly caresses her face with love and with a great force of effort, she vomits out the malevolent entity onto the floor of the cellar. In a final confrontation, Amelia fearlessly stakes their claim on the house and subsequently subdues the Babadook until it retreats into the cellar.
After these events, Amelia and Sam celebrate Sam's birthday in their backyard, and they spend time together as a normal and happy family. Amelia goes into the cellar of the house while telling Sam to stay outside, and it is revealed that the worms she had gathered from the garden outside with Sam, were actually food for the Babadook, who now has taken up residence in their cellar.
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| Directed by | |
|---|---|
| Produced by |
Kristina Ceyton Kristian Moliere |
| Written by |
Jennifer Kent |
| Starring |
Essie Davis Noah Wiseman Daniel Henshall Hayley McElhinney Barbara West Ben Winspear
|
| Music by |
Jed Kurzel |
| Distributed by |
Cinetic Media eOne Films International |
| Release date(s) |
17 January 2014 (2014-01-17) |
| Running time | 103 Minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget |
$2 million |