The Babadook (2014) 10th Anniversary Screening
- Thu, Sep 19, 2024
This showtime has passed.
Director: Jennifer Kent Run Time: 94 min. Rating: NR Release Year: 2014
Starring: Barbara West, Daniel Henshall, Essie Davis, Hayley McElhinney, Noah Wiseman
Country: Australia, Canada
Language: English
A special presentation.
About the film:
World Premiere, Sundance Film Festival 2014
Six years after the violent death of her husband, Amelia is at a loss. She struggles to discipline her “out of control” 6 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.
“An extraordinary film that taps into the fears of both childhood and adulthood.”
—Alonso Duralde, Linoleum Knife
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, and he becomes more unpredictable and violent. Amelia, genuinely frightened by her son’s behavior, 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.
About the filmmaker:
Jennifer Kent is a director from Brisbane, Australia. She is a graduate of The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) and gained extensive experience as an actor in film, theater, and television before moving into directing. In 2002, she worked as a director’s apprentice on Lars Von Trier’s Dogville (2003). In 2005, she released the award-winning short film Monster (2005), which would later serve as the source material for her directorial debut, The Babadook (2014), which premiered at Sundance Film Film Festival, and went on to win over 55 festival awards internationally. Her second film, The Nightingale (2018), premiered at the 2018 Venice International Film Festival where it competed for the Golden Lion. Kent also directed “The Murmuring” for the anthology series Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities.
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MAJOR SUPPORT
Ohio Arts Council
Greater Columbus Arts Council
The Columbus Foundation
Campus Partners
National Endowment for the Arts
WITH HELP FROM
G&J Pepsi
WOSU Public Media
This screened at the Film Center as part of our Spring 2024 program, Femme Fatalities, alongside Kent’s short film Monster (2005). Femme Fatalities is an amazing selection of horror feature and short films made by women, curated by filmmakers Jenn Wexler and Hope Madden.