Jennifer Kent Looks Back on 10 Years of Traumatizing Audiences With The Babadook

The Babadook is returning to theaters for its 10-year anniversary—but really, did Jennifer Kent’s searing communicative of a parent grappling with grief truthful almighty it manifests a monster ever really flight your thoughts? The movie is terrifying connected aggregate levels, adroitly drafting connected elements plucked from the darkest nightmares. io9 was thrilled to speech to the writer-director astir her 2014 debut, which for a assortment of reasons (some decidedly much lighthearted than others) has lone seen its popular civilization footprint turn larger since its release.

Cheryl Eddy, io9: When io9 reviewed the movie successful 2014, the header was “The Babadook Is the Best Movie You’ll Only Want to Watch Once.” It’s meant arsenic a compliment to however wrenching the movie is, but is that a absorption you encountered a lot?

Jennifer Kent: I surely encountered that with my 2nd film. That’s the benignant of tagline for that film, The Nightingale. I deliberation arsenic a filmmaker, erstwhile your archetypal movie [is] released—I was alert of galore antithetic responses. But yeah, I mean, surely radical were frightened by it, which—fear is thing very, precise personal. Some radical weren’t scared, but a batch of radical were. So that was evidently thrilling to me

io9: Of people radical have watched the movie much than once, and due to the fact that of that 1 of the biggest debates astir The Babadook is: is the monster real, oregon is it a hallucination spawned from this tremendous grief? Is that a question you get a lot?

Kent: Well, I retrieve idiosyncratic asking maine that nonstop question, is it existent oregon is it successful her mind? And I person to say… yes.

io9: Yes to both? I similar that.

Kent: [Laughs]

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io9: The Babadook is fearfulness themed astir motherhood and grief, and successful 2022 you had a conception successful Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities Netflix series, “The Murmuring,” that’s besides astir motherhood and grief and repressed feelings, and besides starred The Babadook‘s Essie Davis. Why bash you spot those themes arsenic specified a compelling lens into horror? 

Kent: Yeah, I astir apt wasn’t finished with that benignant of taxable matter, I guess. In “The Murmuring,” I was truly fascinated by ghosts. And I [still] am, I find them precise sad. I consciousness for idiosyncratic to beryllium stuck successful a realm and to not truly cognize that they’re successful it, perhaps. To me, it was incredibly tragic and heartbreaking. And truthful I wanted to research that alongside a quality going done immoderate benignant of nonaccomplishment oregon heartache that they couldn’t resolve, and person them intersect. That was what was absorbing to me, was the intersection of some the surviving and the dead, and to research however they could transverse implicit and connect.

Originally that that occurrence came from a communicative by Guillermo. He had the premise, truthful helium had 2 ornithologists successful the ’50s who went to survey birds connected a distant island, and I thought, “Sold!” That’s each I needed to know. And helium wanted to absorption connected benignant of a ghost, an evil child. And I wasn’t truthful into that. So the different worldly came from me. Even though they person akin themes, I consciousness that the absorption is different.

io9: What is it astir Essie Davis that makes her specified a favourite to enactment with?

Kent: I went done acting schoolhouse with Ess. She was successful the twelvemonth beneath me, her and Cate Blanchett. So she was successful bully company. Ever since her aboriginal 20s, I was conscionable blown distant by everything she did, and truthful I privation to enactment her connected surface much and more. When we were casting “The Murmuring,” I enactment her guardant and that’s the mode we went. And she’s ever truthful thorough and truthful analyzable arsenic an actress, and truly wants to beryllium directed and wants to spell there. It’s conscionable a joyousness to enactment with her. So I deliberation I’m fortunate to person done it twice. She knows I’ll propulsion her—but, you know, hopefully successful a compassionate way. You know, there’s spot there.

io9: Around 2017, the Babadook began to instrumentality connected a beingness of his own—there was the wide seen instrumentality creation with No-Face from Spirited Away, and the elevation into becoming a cheery icon. He adjacent popped up connected What We Do successful the Shadows. What did you marque of that unexpected popular taste presence?

Kent: I consciousness precise vindicated successful immoderate ways due to the fact that erstwhile I made the film, erstwhile I was processing the movie and came up with the connection “Babadook,” galore radical said, “You can’t telephone the movie that. That’s ridiculous. No 1 volition retrieve it.” And it conscionable just proved them each wrong—this has conscionable someway slipped into fashionable civilization successful a mode that you tin lone ever imagination thing will. A item for maine was, I deliberation there’s a notation connected RuPaul’s Drag Race, from memory, which is 1 of my favourite shows. I was sitting determination and successful shock, feeling like, “I’ve made it!”

But each joking aside, I deliberation for thing to seep into fashionable consciousness similar that is simply a existent compliment. And yeah, I’ve loved it. I’ve loved watching it happen.

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io9: And adjacent with that caller individuality for the Babadook, he’s inactive scary successful the discourse of the movie.

Kent: I wanted him, oregon it, immoderate it is, to person its ain logic that I knew successful detail, but that you didn’t ever truly get a grip on—which I deliberation is however fearfulness works. When you cognize what thing is, you’re nary longer acrophobic of it, but erstwhile you are not sure, that’s erstwhile it’s astatine its astir terrifying.

io9: The “cursed book” is 1 of horror’s astir reliable tropes, but it comes to beingness present successful specified a unsocial way. What were the origins of utilizing the children’s pop-up publication arsenic the mode for the monster to participate the story?

Kent: I toyed with assorted things, and I’m gladsome that we came up with a publication due to the fact that a publication uses connection alternatively than a doll oregon an entity of immoderate sort. It conscionable felt, “Babadook, book”—I can’t retrieve what came erstwhile successful the process, but I had a fewer options. I thought the publication was the astir powerful. Then, arsenic the communicative progressed, it started benignant of—you could pain it, you could teardrop it up, and past it came back. So it conscionable felt right.

And past the adjacent measurement was to get the shaper of the book. Who’s going to marque this book? It felt similar if it was a pop-up and it’s three-dimensional, it has a beingness of its own. And past it tin benignant of make scenarios and images arsenic it does aboriginal successful the movie that are visceral and frightening. We recovered Alex [Juhasz], who was the creator of that publication and conscionable a genius illustrator, an American guy, and helium came implicit to Australia successful the months starring up to accumulation and worked with us. To me, it was precise important due to the fact that the publication is the cardinal plan piece. The satellite of the movie springs up and astir from that book. So helium needed to beryllium with america truthful we could enactment together. It’s very, precise hard to bash thing similar that connected Zoom oregon connected the phone.

io9: Do you inactive person the archetypal props?

Kent: Yes, I bash … I’ve recovered an artisan who tin benignant of make a protective lawsuit for it all. I’ve got astir of it.

io9: Have you ever fixed immoderate thought to a sequel, oregon continuing the communicative somehow?

Kent: Never thought astir it, and intentionally not thought astir it. Kristina [Ceyton, the film’s producer] and I clasp the rights—which is incredibly uncommon present for filmmakers—but Kristina knows I’ll ne'er accidental yes to a sequel. I deliberation there’s conscionable nary request for it. There’s perfectly nary request to research beyond what I already did. The lone crushed would beryllium to marque money. As overmuch arsenic I’d emotion to wage disconnected my mortgage, I besides privation to beryllium capable to slumber astatine night. So, yeah, not saying yes to that. We’ve had offers.

io9: I stake you have. “A Babadook TV show!”

Kent: The lone happening that I was benignant of intrigued by is the thought of a musical, which was which was connected the cards. And I was benignant of unfastened to it, americium benignant of unfastened to it. But that’s not truly a sequel. That’s much a reprisal of sorts.

© IFC Films

io9: I deliberation there’s a imaginable there! Can you accidental thing astir what you’re moving connected now, oregon what mightiness beryllium coming up for you?

Kent: We’re astir to denote thing that’s going ahead, a movie based connected a book. A precise well-known fearfulness book. But I can’t truly accidental much than that astatine this point.

Find retired however to get tickets for The Babadook‘s 10-year day screenings—which footwear disconnected September 19, and volition see a specially recorded, in-theaters-only treatment with Jennifer Kent—at the Iconic Events website here.

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