The Babadook

Amelia Vanek is a troubled, exhausted widow and single mother of six-year-old Sam living in Adelaide. Her husband, Oskar, was killed in a car accident while driving her to the hospital during labour. Sam begins displaying erratic behaviour, causing problems at school and in their social life, and becomes preoccupied with an imaginary monster, which he has built weapons to fight. One night, he asks his mother to read a pop-up fairy tale book, titled Mister Babadook. It describes a monster with a top hat wearing a suit, which grows more sinister and menacing with each page turned. Amelia is disturbed by the book and its mysterious appearance, while Sam grows frightened and paranoid, convinced that the Babadook is real.

Strange events begin to occur, such as Amelia finding glass shards in her food. She attributes the events to Sam, but he blames the Babadook. Amelia subsequently rips up the book and disposes of it. At her birthday party, Sam's cousin, Ruby, bullies him, and he pushes her out of her tree house, inadvertently breaking her nose. Amelia's sister and Ruby's mother, Claire, is furious at her nephew for what he did to her. Claire admonishes her sister, stating that even Amelia resents her son for his behavior. On the ride home, Sam has a vision of the Babadook and suffers a violent seizure, after which Amelia brings him to therapy and receives sedatives for him.