Kent’s film tapped into a lot of visceral fears I had at the time as a woman living alone

| Oct 11, 2024

Frightening and bleak yet also spellbinding and profound, “The Babadook” deserves to be immortalised in the canon of horror cinema alongside the very pictures that inspired it.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Sep 20, 2024

“The Babadook” is an extraordinary horror film.

| Aug 15, 2024

A well-made horror film with oppressive atmosphere that also explores deeper, thought-provoking themes of coming to terms with trauma and overcoming grief.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Aug 9, 2024

Here’s a horror film that strays away from cheap thrills, and taps into something real; true human fear, grief, anxiety, and depression...the more I thought of The Babadook, the deeper it sank into my psyche.

| Apr 22, 2024

The Babadook succeeds on nearly every level. Its supernatural scares are effectively grounded in real-life tragedy and broken relationships that are depicted brilliantly by a superb performance from Essie Davis.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jan 17, 2024

Essie Davis is a revelation in Jennifer Kent's meditation on grief and the challenges of single parenting. It's easy to hate Samuel, but the film is actually carefully calibrated to shift the villain status from son to mother. It all really works

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 16, 2024

The Babadook isn’t just a movie; it's a symbol for the queer reclamation of horror movie monsters.

| Oct 27, 2022

The story is rich with raw emotion and a genuine eeriness. There is always a tinge of uncertainty which constantly has you questioning what you’re seeing.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 19, 2022

It walks the fine line between reality and nightmares with skilled footing.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Jul 16, 2022

Watch the film as an ironic coming-out story, or as an atmospheric creeper playing with themes of depression and mental illness. Either way, we have a feeling well be seeing The Babadook at Halloween partiesand pride celebrationsfor years to come.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Mar 20, 2022

A supremely original concept starring the Mr. Hyde version of a Dr. Seuss character.

| Nov 2, 2021

Captures the twin pressures of loss and single parenting, kneading them into a hauntingly tense and anxiety-inducing horror.

| Jul 23, 2021

From early on there's something gorgeously wrong in its rhythms - a nasty arrhythmic pulse like a hiccup inside our chest or a bubble of air in our bloodstream, weaving towards our heart. It squeezes and it squeezes and oh, what a marvelous rush.

| Jul 2, 2021

A haunting Aussie chiller destined to become a horror classic

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | May 26, 2021

Jennifer Kent is maestro of moody ambiance and emotional turmoil...

| Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 10, 2020

The Babadook is just about the tenderest horror movie I've ever seen - but that's not to say it's not scary.

| Oct 20, 2020

The Babadook is a supremely eerie film, expertly crafted to put the viewer on edge right from the start and keep them there.

| Jul 17, 2020

Here is an intelligent horror film that, relying on the mother-child relationship, tells us that the true terror is not out there, it is within ourselves. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 7/10 | Jun 26, 2020

The Babadook, the debut feature from Australian writer/director Jennifer Kent, has all the right elements in place for an effective horror film, but ultimately stumbles when they fail to congeal.

| Original Score: 2.8/5 | Nov 27, 2019