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The Babadook (Dir. Jennifer Kent) was released in 2014 during a revival of indie horror movies that grew to popularity in the early 2010s. Following a decades long dominance of the “Torture Porn” genre, many low budget horror films began to captivate audiences with complex themes, overarching metaphors, and superb script writing.

The Babadook, similar to other films released this decade like It Follows (2014) and Black Swan (2010), features a central “monster” that is a metaphor for a mental ailment afflicting the main character/s.

Serving as a manifestation of a family’s grief, The Babadook torments our two central sometimes protagonist, sometimes antagonist duo: Amelia and Samuel. Amelia is a single mother, working to support her six-year-old son Samuel after the sudden death of husband on the day her son was born. One day, after Sam’s expulsion from school, a mysterious book appears to the young boy entitled: The Babadook. After reading the book, Amelia becomes disturbed by the graphic and violent images portrayed of her murdering the small family. Slowly, the book becomes reality as the two main characters are haunted by this malevolent figure. Using their familial love, Sam and Amelia have to vanquish this monster together without losing each other in the process.

I chose The Babadook due to its interesting and creative depiction of grief and mental illness through a child’s perspective. I will be analyzing it through that lens, and how the film personifies grief through the character of The Babadook. The imagery and symbolism shown throughout the film will be discussed in how that character is presented in through Sam's eyes, and how that relates to the depression and tension of the family dynamic between the two main characters.

Through the personification of Amelia's mental illness as a child’s monster, physical deterioration and ailments used as a metaphor for parental failure and family corruption, and the switching perspectives of of the two main characters to depict their individual struggles with grief and loss, The Babadook argues the importance of a parent's responsibility to love and support their child through times of strife no matter their own personal burdens.