How The Babadook, an Australian Flop, Became a Horror Must-See

The Babadook is essentially one long panic attack. Made for $2.3 million by first-time filmmaker Jennifer Kent, the Australian movie finds fear in the barely bearable everyday grief of a mother mourning the loss of her spouse while she struggles to care for her son. The actress Essie Davis, a veteran of Australian television, plays Amelia, a woman whose husband died in a car accident as they were driving to the hospital to deliver their baby. Now her son, Sam (Noah Wiseman), is 6 years old and disturbed. He’s hyperactive. He sobs. He can’t stop babbling about a monster in the house. He gets upset and accidentally hurts his cousin. When Sam starts screaming in the back seat of Amelia’s car, she can’t stop him.

It all feels terrifyingly familiar. Amelia tries so hard to be a good mother—and she’s exhausted. And then there’s that storybook about a character named Mr. Babadook. Are those dark, flickering shadows a monster? Or figments of her frazzled mind?