Film Review: 'The Babadook' will scare the living daylights out of you

Director: Jennifer Kent

Cast: Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman

Rating: ***

What it's about: Amelia (Davis) doesn't have it easy. She's a single mom with a precocious, outspoken son who believes there's a monster in the house. He comes off as terribly irritating and is enough to drive anyone up the wall with his antics. It doesn't help that his mom is a single mom who isn't getting much sleep, has been a tad depressed since losing her husband in a violent car accident. Soon, the son Samuel (Wiseman) starts babbling on and on about a Babadook from a creepy storybook that crops up out of nowhere. Desperate mom convinces doctor to write her a prescription so she can sleep. But things start to get progressively worse from there on...

What's hot: Essie and Noah take turns in freaking the sh*t outta you. If he's loud and obnoxious in the first half while she's interminably patient, it's vice versa in the second half for different reasons. The horror here is more psychological than spiritual and it keeps you guessing about what manner of demon or ghoul is at play here. Are inner demons to blame?

What's not: The story itself is pretty straightforward. It's the probability of a human horror being at play that keeps you hooked. The ending, therefore, is a little bit of a letdown.

What to do: For a change, at least here's a horror story where all's well at the end. There's a feel-good vibe here, you rarely see in films of the genre. Do watch. Alone.