Horror movie enthusiasts have only a few days left to watch one of the most productive horror movies of the 21st century before it leaves Netflix. If you like genuinely horror movies that manage to combine horror with sincere feelings and compelling characters, this one should be on your watchlist. this week before it runs out.
The Babadook is an Australian psychological supernatural horror movie that came out in 2014 from first-time director Jennifer Kent (The Nightingale). It’s definitely one of the best scary movies I’ve seen in recent years, and since it’s now a decade old we can safely call it a “classic” of the horror genre. The Babadook boasts a near-perfect 98% Rotten Tomatoes score, which is pretty rare for horror flicks. Audiences are a bit more divided, with a Popcornmeter score of 72%, though that’s still certifiably “fresh.”
Whether or not you’re a big fan of horror movies, this is a movie you can watch if you haven’t realized it yet, and if you’ve already realized it and need to watch it again, you have until this Friday. The film leaves Netflix on Saturday, January 25.
The story centers on Amelia Vanek (Essie Davis), a widowed mother whose husband died violently six years before the film’s release. She struggles to raise her troubled six-year-old son, Samuel (Noah Wiseman), who behaves strangely. When a mysterious pop-up book called Mister Babadook appears in his room, things take a disturbing and otherworldly turn.
The movie is minimalist in design, inspired by German Expressionist films, and blends themes of grief and depression, as well as the struggles of parenting, with its horror elements, blurring the lines between psychological and supernatural horror.
“Here is a horror film that moves away from reasonable emotions,” critic Wael Khairy wrote of the film, “and toward something real; real human fear, pain, anxiety and depression. . . the more insight I had about the Babadook, the deeper it sank into my psyche.
Reviewer Jason Adams praised the film, writing “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.”
Slate’s Dana Stevens echoes many other critics who praise the film’s elegant blend of domestic life and horror, writing: “The Babadook makes everyday domestic life seem like the most natural possible place to encounter monsters of every description, including the monsters that we ourselves have the capacity to become.”
In other words, this is a horror movie that’s not only genuinely frightening, but one that parents in particular can relate to, drumming up not only the fears of childhood, but of adulthood and all that entails. I haven’t seen this since it came out. I may have to give it a rewatch myself before it leaves Netflix on Saturday, though just watching the trailer again makes me feel a little stressed out.
Have you noticed the Babadook? What did you think? Let me know on Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky, or Facebook. Also make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me here on this blog. Subscribe to my newsletter for more reviews and observations on entertainment and culture.
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