Widowed Amelia (Essie Davis) struggles to manage her young son, Samuel (Noah Wiseman), who begins displaying erratic behavioral issues, starting problems at school and becoming fixated on the existence of an imaginary creature known as “Mister Babadook” from a children’s pop-up book. As Amelia contends with her son’s seemingly irrational fear, she spirals into an increasingly paranoid state as she realizes the monster may be real.

While a terrifying movie monster, the Babadook has actually gone on to become a gay icon — a popular meme that took social media by storm back in 2016. All joking aside, The Babadook is a creepy, disturbing psychological horror film that intertwines an emotional story with scares that will keep you up at night. Davis gives it her all as the frantic, frustrated Amelia, a performance made all the more impactful by the truly commanding direction from Jennifer Kent.