The Babadook

Amelia has raised her son Samuel alone since her husband Oskar died in a car crash driving her to the hospital to give birth — Samuel's birthday is inseparable from his father's death. Samuel is hyperactive, fixated on monsters, and friendless. One night he produces a pop-up book called Mister Babadook: a rhyming story warning that once the Babadook enters you can never be rid of it. Disturbing events follow. Amelia tears the book up; it reassembles on the doorstep with new pages that describe harm coming to her and Samuel. She calls the police; the book returns again with pages depicting her killing her dog and her son. Amelia becomes sleepless, erratic, and consumed by a rage she cannot explain — the same qualities the book describes. The Babadook possesses her. She kills the dog, nearly strangles Samuel, and speaks in Oskar's voice. Samuel shocks her out of the possession. Amelia goes to the basement where she confronts the entity directly — and rather than destroying it, she screams her grief into it until it retreats to the corner, weakened. The film ends with Amelia feeding worms into the basement: the Babadook, a manifestation of unprocessed grief, cannot be destroyed — only acknowledged and contained.