Watched: The Babadook

This is a really well-made horror movie. It has an artsy perfection to the staging, sets and costuming that reminds me a lot of Kubrick. The jumps are used sparingly as well, much like they are in his The Shining. I think it tells a really interesting story, too, about the physical manifestation of the things we try to repress. Obviously it's not realistic but the emotions of all of the characters in the film feel relatable and real. So it's well made and also well acted. It took me a little bit to settle into these performances, the main actress and the boy who plays her son give very frank, earnest delivery of their lines in a way that reminded me of Lynch and the surreality that his characters deliveries of their lines give to this films. In a good way, though. Also the actual monster is super creepy.

I actually jumped out of my skin at this shot both times I watched the movie, because although that is not the Babadook and is fact just a lamp something about the outline looks kind of like his top hat? or something and creeped me the fuck out. BOTH TIMES.

Got me here, too.

This, I think, is the scene where the tension and anxiety I was feeling stopped being a result of fear of the next jump or weird image and started being psychological. The mother character, Amelia, spends the first act of the film getting more and more distressed and afraid of this monster that is terrorizing her and her son and then suddenly, in the middle of act two, she just goes totally calm and numb and we get this scene of her sitting, in all her clothing, in the bathtub. All deadened acceptance and placid numbness. It's more terrifying than all of the jump cuts in the movie put together.