8 Disturbing Horror Movie Monsters (And What They Represent)

More commonly known since the film's release, The Babadook functions as an extension as Amelia Vanek's grief. It's the mother's internal struggle with being alone brought into physical form; a dark, terrible entity intent on tearing her family apart. The bitter feelings of resentment that have wormed their way into her psyche have been bought into terrible reality, and influence everything she does, threatening to consume her.

Her problems are rooted in losing her husband in a car accident whilst in labour, seeding her turmoil straight into her son Samuel. His head-splitting screeches and general annoying behaviour are amplified tenfold to Amelia's fragile state of being, allowing storybook creature 'The Babadook' to take hold of their household and fester in her emotional wounds.

The Babadook as grief, then, manifests itself in his inescapable haunting of Amelia. In the same way one can't simply rid themselves of pain, 'you can't escape the Babadook.' His mantra also rings true for any difficulties with mental health: 'the more you deny, the stronger I get.' He's a black, swirling void that appears as her husband and as a monstrous being - everything that she loved and wants to forget, that causes her pain.

That the ending sees Mister Babadook locked in the basement, confronted in his entirety and fed gruesome insects from the garden in place of Amelia's damaged mind. She's healing, accepting this dark part of her, and doing her best to come to terms and live with the grief that has embedded itself in her life. She can't fight it anymore, nor does she need to.