Is The Babadook Scary? The Verdict and the Whole Plot
Yes, 6 out of 10. It's a sad, slow dread about a widow and a monster from a pop-up book.
🐱THE SCARE SIGNAL
SCARE SCORE
6 /10
🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱
DREAD LEVEL
Medium
You'll think twice about pop-up books for a night or two.
DOG
Dog: not fine
not fine, and we're sorry.
Ruling: Watch it with the lights on, and warn anyone who loves dogs before they press play.
The Babadook runs ninety-four minutes, and it starts with a widow, her six-year-old and a pop-up book that appears in the house from nowhere. The book looks worse with every page turned, and the six-year-old is convinced the monster in it is real.
The premise, briefly
A widowed mother and her six-year-old son read a pop-up book about a monster in a top hat, and the boy becomes convinced the monster is real.
How much do you want to know?
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The verdict above is spoiler-free. Everything below, including the ending, stays hidden until you pick a depth.
🐱CUT TO THE CHASE
How it ends
Amelia is possessed, kills the dog Bugsy and tries to kill Sam, then coughs the Babadook out and drives it into the basement. She and Sam survive, and later she brings the Babadook a bowl of worms.
The scene you're dreading
Near the end, the possessed Amelia kills Bugsy and then tries to kill Sam. Sam lures her into the basement and knocks her out with his contraptions, and when she wakes she tries to strangle him.
The dog
Yes, the dog dies. Amelia kills Bugsy near the end, while she is possessed.
It is a sad story about a widow and her son, and the monster ends up living in the basement.
THE SHORT VERSION IS HIDDEN
How it ends, the scene you're dreading, what happens to the dog, and the bottom line. About twenty seconds to read.
What actually happens
A bedtime story that arrives uninvited
Amelia Vanek is an exhausted widow in Adelaide who lives with her six-year-old son, Sam. Her husband Oskar was killed in a crash on the way to the hospital, where he was driving her to give birth. Sam is difficult at school and is preoccupied with an imaginary monster that he builds weapons to fight. One night he asks Amelia to read him a pop-up book called Mister Babadook, which appeared in the house without explanation. It shows a monster in a top hat that looks worse on every page. Soon Amelia finds glass in her food and blames Sam, who blames the Babadook. She rips up the book. At Amelia's birthday party, Sam's cousin Ruby bullies him, he pushes her out of a tree house and breaks her nose, and Amelia's sister Claire is furious. Sam later has a vision of the Babadook and a seizure, and Amelia takes him to therapy and gets sedatives for him.
Amelia finds the book put back together on her front door. It now has new pop-ups, and they show her killing the family dog Bugsy, then Sam, then herself. She burns the book and takes a disturbing phone call as her cue to head for the police station. She has no proof, and she leaves when she spots what looks like the Babadook's suit hanging behind the front desk. The Babadook comes for her that night. After that she gets more isolated and short-tempered, shouts at Sam, and has more visions of the Babadook. She cuts the phone line with a knife and begins to hallucinate that she is murdering her son.
The basement, and a dog who deserved better
An apparition of Oskar tells Amelia he will come back if she brings Sam to him. She realizes he is something the Babadook made, runs, and is possessed anyway. This is the scene people brace for, and it comes near the end. Under the Babadook's influence she kills Bugsy, then tries to kill Sam. Sam lures her down to the basement and knocks her out with his homemade contraptions. She wakes up and tries to strangle him, but he gently touches her face, and she coughs up a black substance that seems to push the Babadook out. Sam warns her that the Babadook can never be gotten rid of, and something invisible drags him into her bedroom. She gets him back, and the Babadook makes her watch a vision of how her husband died. Then she confronts the Babadook, and it retreats into the basement while she locks the door.
The ending, explained
Amelia and Sam recover. She is kind and attentive to Sam, encourages his weapons and is impressed by his magic tricks. One day they dig up worms in the garden, fill a bowl with them, and she carries the bowl down to the basement. The Babadook goes for her, but she calms it, and it retreats to a corner with the worms. She goes back outside to celebrate Sam's birthday. Amelia and Sam both live, Bugsy does not, and the Babadook stays in the basement with its snacks.
The post-credits ruling
There is no post-credits scene. You can leave when the credits start.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: not fine, and we're sorry.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is The Babadook scary?
Yes, The Babadook is a 6 out of 10. It has several real jump scares and a few frightening scenes with the monster, and it is also a sad story about a widow and her son. It sticks with people for a night.
How does The Babadook end?
Amelia is possessed, kills Bugsy and tries to kill Sam before coughing the Babadook out. She locks it in the basement, where she feeds it worms, and she and Sam both survive.
Does the dog die in The Babadook?
Yes, the dog dies in The Babadook. Amelia kills Bugsy near the end, while she is possessed.
Is there a post-credits scene in The Babadook?
No. The Babadook has no post-credits scene, so you can leave when the credits start.
What is the Babadook in The Babadook?
It is the monster from a pop-up book called Mister Babadook, which shows a top hat and a suit and gets more menacing with each page. In The Babadook it possesses Amelia, and the family never gets rid of it.
BLURRED FOR YOUR PROTECTION
The whole plot of The Babadook is hidden, ending included. It stays that way until you ask.
You don't have to sit through ninety-four minutes of The Babadook to learn what is in the basement. Install Scaredy Cat and it blurs horror before you see it.
