It may not be arriving in time for Halloween, but one of the most acclaimed horror features of the year will still touch down by the year’s end. After premiering at Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, Jennifer Kent‘s directorial debut The Babadook is now set for a U.S. release in November and for the occasion, IFC Midnight has released the debut U.S. trailer.
Following the widowed Amelia (Essie Davis) and her ostracized six-year old Samuel (Noah Wiseman), we said in our review, it “may utilize familiar horror iconography like dank basements and insect infestations but it’s main ghoul is a creation that directly recalls german expressionist creations like that of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. This return to the more sinister and meager horrors of the past reinforces the film’s most potent theme: there are some monsters and some pains we will have to contend with for a very long time.” Check out the first U.S. trailer below.
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 behaviour, 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 hits theaters and VOD on November 28th.