The Babadook Strikes Gold at Australian Academy Awards

default-featured-image

Here in the States, it’s quite rare for horror films to get any love at the Academy Awards, and only a small handful over the years have been honored at the ceremony. But things are a bit different in Australia, where hometown favorite The Babadook (review) has just scared up some gold!

THR reports that Jennifer Kent’s debut feature has tied with Russell Crowe’s The Water Diviner for best film at the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, Australia’s preeminent film and TV awards, announced in Sydney on Thursday.

Kent also took home the AACTA Awards for best direction and best original screenplay for The Babadook, one year after her low budget thriller film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

Congratulations, The Babadook. Your Oscar gold is well deserved!

Written and directed by Jennifer Kent, the film stars Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Daniel Henshall, Hayley McElhinney, Barbara West, and Ben Winspear.

Synopsis:
Six years after the violent death of her husband, Amelia (Essie Davis) is at a loss. She struggles to discipline her “out of control” 6-year-old, Samuel (Noah Wiseman), a son she finds impossible to love. Samuel’s dreams are plagued by a monster he believes is coming to kill them both. 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; 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.

The Babadook

Share: 
Tags:

Categorized:

Sign up for The Harbinger a Dread Central Newsletter