The Babadook (2014) | This frighteningly brilliant Australian Grimm fairytale will get under your skin! | Movie Talk | What's on TV

When troubled six-year-old Samuel (Noah Wiseman) finds a pop-up book called The Babadook on his bookshelf, his widowed mum Amelia (Essie Davis) makes it his new bedtime story. But the book exerts a bad influence on Sam, who becomes convinced The Babadook is coming to get them. At first Amelia suspects Sam's disruptive behaviour is in response to her resentment of him (she blames him for his father’s death), but then she starts seeing glimpses of the sinister storybook presence herself! Is it just a figment of her imagination brought on by her insomnia, or is there a very real monster in the closet?

Justifiably earning rave reviews from critics and audiences alike, The Babadook is probably the best Aussie horror since 2005’s sleeper hit Wolf Creek. Making her feature debut here, writer/director Jennifer Kent has conjured up a contemporary suburban Grimm fairytale exploring grief, loneliness and guilt to reveal the monster that potentially lurks inside us all.

Essie Davis gives a captivating performance as the increasingly unhinged Amelia, trapped in a maelstrom of grief and terror, while young Noah Wiseman brings real depth to the troubled Sam who, armed with his homemade weapons, goes from frightened to fearless as the film's dark events take hold and both son and mum are propelled into the very heart of darkness.

This frightening brilliant horror certainly gets under your skin, and marks Kent as an emerging new talent that's one to watch.

The Babadook is out now UK and Irish cinemas from Icon Film Distribution

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