10 Breakthrough Performances From 2014's Rising Movie Stars

7. Essie Davis - The Babadook

With movies like Annabelle and VHS Viral reminding us just how boring and predictable modern horror movies all too often turn out, it was left to our friends down under to deliver the goods in 2014. New Zealand gave us the delightful darkly comic Housebound, while Australia gave us the somewhat classier The Babadook. The influence of David Lynch can be felt in more than a few sequences in The Babadook, with first time director Jennifer Kent drawing on the masters in her depiction of a mother and her son battling a strange, supernatural presence in their house. The restraint shown in depicting the creature is an admirable choice - The Babadook's real focus is on Amelia (Essie Davis) and her son, and it is in Davis's performance that the real tension and suspense lies. Comparisons with Mia Farrow's portrayal of a woman going through a severe mental crisis in Rosemary's Baby are entirely appropriate - Davis's award-winning performance is the driving force behind The Babadook, her breakdown thoroughly convincing and occasionally shocking.