I give it a meh/10. Original story with some elements we've seen before. Wasn't as scary as expected, but a solid watch if you're looking for something different in a horror/suspense movie.
This was a good movie, however it's not as original as many people think. Here are other movies which Babadook was inspired by. Click it only if you've seen this and want to watch similar films. Spoiler Repulsion (1965), the Tenant (1976), Images (1972), and to a lesser extent the Black Swan (2010).
About that ending... Spoiler So, is it a happy ending, with the mother celebrating her son's birthday in the yard while he's doing magic tricks for her? Or did she really kill him in the basement and the magic trick ending is just an 'illusion'? Remember, the kid (and the magician on the DVD) says, "Life is not always as it seems. It can be a wondrous thing. But it can also be very treacherous."
Could be either. I definitely think it's the former. The feeding of worms is Spoiler her finally accepting her spouse's death .
To add to that... Spoiler What the mother goes through in the last half of the movie is what the son goes through in the first half. Upon second viewing, it was easier for me to compare and contrast their individual freak outs. I think the depression in the kid festered with his childish imagination. But I believe the depression in the mother festered with her crazy, bottled up hatred for her son. She blames her son for her husband's death. The pain of that coupled with being a single mother of a troubled child made her psyche break. The Babadook was her just as it became her in the new pages added to the book. We see this depression metaphorically haunt the Son while the Mother is the confused observer, just as we are. Then after the scene at the girls birthday party, we see the kids depression run its course in the car when she had to pull over. This is, I believe, the last straw that breaks the Mother while he coincidently (more or so) recovers. Now HE observes his Mother falling deeper and deeper through the cracks and we go along the ride with her. The Babadook could also be what's known in psychology as her "Shadow". A part of our mind that we refuse to accept as a part of ourselves. Something so contradictive to how we view ourselves, we ignore it until we become unconscious to the fact. The more it's ignored, the more it builds until it erupts with little to no warning. Could the Babadook knocking at the door be their "shadow" ready to burst through? That's how I see her "feeding" the babadook in the basement being her way of not ignoring it but rather "keeping it at bay" so it is no longer a running issue. I don't know. Awesome movie. Also fun fact, Baba translates to Father
Spoiler Just to add to your last part, remember in the book how it says the more you deny the stronger I get. Pairs pretty well with what you said. Also, I TOTALLY forgot they mentioned her being an author. Thanks for that dmc89.
Way, way much less creepy than the Tall Man. I never saw the movie "Sinister", but I heard ok things. How does this compare?
