The Babadook (2014)

THE BABADOOK  (2014)  ¢ ¢ ¢
    D: Jennifer Kent
    Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Daniel Henshall,
    Barbara West, Chloe Hurn, Tim Purcell
Here's a movie for anybody who's ever wondered what life might've been like in the Bates home with just Norman and Mother, back when Norman was , like, eight. It's a creepy little thriller from Australia, about a disturbed young boy and his exasperated mom and a book called "The Babadook", which they read together one night before going to bed. The book is like a collaboration between Edward Gorey and Edgar Allan Poe, and it's not the kind of thing a frightened kid should be looking at before going to sleep. The exact nature of the horror in this is never entirely clear, but one thing is: You cannot escape the Babadook. Not that these characters aren't going to try, no matter how crazy or bloody things get. They've made a pact to protect each other, after all. And a boy's best friend is his mother.