[7]

Essie Davis (Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries) gives a powerhouse performance as the widowed mother of a troubled child who believes a storybook monster is terrorizing their household. At first, Mom doesn’t believe the monster is real, but Mr. Babadook quickly makes his presence increasingly known… or is Mom just losing her mind from anxiety and exhaustion? Davis pulls out every weapon in her arsenal of acting whoop-assery here, playing a character who is at turns tender, fragile, paranoid, terrified, and frightening. It’s a shame the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences doesn’t give the horror genre its due, because this is an Oscar-caliber performance if there ever was one.

Writer/director Jennifer Kent gives The Babadook an austere, polished beauty. She makes the most out of the film’s limited number of settings and presents the monster in subtle, suggestive ways — long enough to keep you wondering if it’s real or not. I would have preferred more visceral thrills in the movie, perhaps a ‘setpiece’ moment or two. But Kent keeps The Babadook on an equal plain and an even pace, enough that it almost gets too sleepy at times. Still, for a film about two characters in a house with an imaginary bad guy, it’s pretty damned good.