Amelia has a small boy who is an utter nightmare - hyperactive, somewhere on the autism scale, full of obsessive compulsive behaviour - plus she is exhausted and hasn't really processed her husband's death. A bedtime story book called The Babadook turns out, it appears, to summon a genuine nightmarish entity. Or does it? I missed this when it first came out - a genuinely scary horror film, it said, one of the best horrors for years.
Sorry, but it falls short, possibly on the basis of false advertising. It is nicely creepy, with a sense of enveloping dread, and the cast are all very good, especially young Noah Wiseman as a truly annoying little boy (but then, he's supposed to be). Had it been staged (and advertised) as a psychological thriller, then it would have been utterly successful. However, it is sold as, and turns out to be, a horror movie, in which endeavour it is considerably less successful. In particular, it promises much and delivers little, and it has a dumb resolution. Still, at least it didn't have one of those unconvincing shock endings which turns everything on its tail.
And it was so nearly really good.
Sorry, but it falls short, possibly on the basis of false advertising. It is nicely creepy, with a sense of enveloping dread, and the cast are all very good, especially young Noah Wiseman as a truly annoying little boy (but then, he's supposed to be). Had it been staged (and advertised) as a psychological thriller, then it would have been utterly successful. However, it is sold as, and turns out to be, a horror movie, in which endeavour it is considerably less successful. In particular, it promises much and delivers little, and it has a dumb resolution. Still, at least it didn't have one of those unconvincing shock endings which turns everything on its tail.
And it was so nearly really good.