20 2010s Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die
11. The Babadook
Plot: A single mother and her son are haunted by a monster released from a children's book.
This Australian horror film might look like a monster movie, but don't be fooled. A monster does feature in The Babadook (an awesome monster at that) but this movie is ultimately about things which are far more terrifying: grief, depression, insanity and loneliness. The Babadook is, like many of the best horror films, a highly effective and disturbing externalization of people's inner fears.
As such, it isn't a cheerful viewing at all but it's a very powerful and moving one that is full of heartfelt human drama which only makes the highly frightening horror sequences even more chilling and suspenseful. It's undoubtedly a classic of modern horror cinema.
It's also worth seeing for Essie Davis' Oscar-worthy performance in the lead role. Alas, just like other horror performers this decade such as I Saw the Devil's two leads, Antonio Banderas in The Skin I Live In, Gong Yoo in Train to Busan, James McAvoy in Split, John Goodman in 10 Cloverfield Lane, Toni Collette in Hereditary, The Lighthouse's two leads, Lupita Nyong'o in Us and Florence Pugh in Midsommar, the Academy completely ignored her.