The Babadook

The Babadook

Release Date

2014

Director

  • Jennifer Kent

Cast

  • Essie Davis
  • Noah Wiseman

A mysterious and unsettling children's book forces a grieving widow to confront her resentment of her imaginative young son—and the possibility that his terrifying nightmares might be real.

Six years after the violent death of her husband, Amelia is at a loss. She struggles to discipline her 'out of control' six-year-old, Samuel, a son she finds impossible to love. Samuel's dreams are plagued by a monster he believes is coming to kill them both. When a disturbing storybook called The Babadook turns up at their house, Samuel is convinced that the Babadook is the creature he's been dreaming about. His hallucinations spiral out of control, he becomes more unpredictable and violent. Amelia, genuinely frightened by her son's behaviour, is forced to medicate him. But when Amelia begins to see glimpses of a sinister presence all around her, it slowly dawns on her that the thing Samuel has been warning her about may be real.



Photo courtesy of PHOTOFEST

Past Programs

2018

2019

Fear in the body

Belcourt Theatre, Nashville, TN

2022

Come out, come out, wherever you are!

Athens Ciné, Athens, GA

2024

Brain changes in parenthood

Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline, MA