Written by Cat Wilson, catthewilson.com
Today’s pick is the supernatural and psychological horror, The Babadook. Written and directed by Jennifer Kent, this is a film that shows how terrifying grief and being a single mother can be. The main character Amelia, played by the fantastic Essie Davis, is a complex feminine character, she is a mother but she is also a woman with her own needs for sex and companionship. Her son, Sam who she loves, is the cause of so much pain and frustration. There is a point in the movie that he is yelling for her attention in the back seat of a car that is visceral, in it’s depiction of the dark side of motherhood. At the climax her son saves her but he is not the hero. There is no hero. They save each other and the monster is not destroyed but tamed.