Why ‘The Babadook’ Director Felt the Film Was Awful
Horror movies are rarely critical darlings. Despite this, The Babadook became one of the most beloved movies of the 2010s. The director of The Babadook was once convinced the movie was a failure. Now, she has a different perspective.
The director of ‘The Babadook’ took 1 comment as gospel
Jennifer Kent is a movie director known first and foremost for The Babadook. During a 2024 interview with Variety, she discussed the film’s premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. While many filmmakers would be thrilled to attend Sundance, it was a nerve-wracking experience for Kent.
“It [was] a hyper-aware moment for me, ‘Why is that woman coughing? Why is there so much silence?'” Kent recalled. “Like, what do I want them to talk through the film? Then when the film ended, the woman in front of me said, ‘Well, that was crap.’ I remember completely shutting down and thinking, ‘Oh, I’ve made a big turkey.’ Because you hear a comment like that, and I thought, ‘That’s unanimous.'”
Where Jennifer Kent’s career went after her big movie
Afterward, Kent’s feelings about her signature movie changed. “I feel enormously grateful to that film,” she said. “I don’t tend to look back once I’ve finished a film. It’s done. I put everything I have into it and I want to move forward. So I haven’t thought that much about it, but I’m really grateful.
“I also think it’s a bit of a lottery with films,” she said. “Someone can make a brilliant first film, and for whatever reason, it just doesn’t hit right at the time and doesn’t get that coverage. So I was very fortunate.”
After The Babadook took over the world, Kent, who is from Australia, made the Australia-set period piece The Nightingale. While the latter film was popular with critics, few people saw it. Unfortunately, only a small number of viewers who are not Australian have any interest in Australian history. In some ways, The Nightingale is the opposite of The Babadook, whose Australian origins are incidental.
Since then, she directed an episode of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities titled “The Murmuring.” She’s kept a low profile, which is a shame, as The Babadook is one of the few beloved horror films directed by a woman. Kent plans to make a series set in the 18th century inspired by the darker side of Irish mythology. Hopefully, she’ll be able to get the project off the ground.
How ‘The Babadook’ performed
According to Box Office Mojo, The Babadook made a paltry sum in its opening weekend: $964,413. Internationally, the film earned $9,529,469 for a gross of over $10 million. That’s an impressive gross for a little independent film.
Since then, The Babadook has become one of the most famous horror films of the 2010s. The film has inspired serious analysis as well as numerous tongue-in-cheek memes. After The Babadook came out, horror fiction started to focus on unhinged mother figures, such as in Hereditary and the viral video “Unedited Footage of a Bear.”
Maybe Kent wasn’t always proud of the movie. But in the end, a certain top hat-wearing demon had the last laugh.
