Babadook is a recommended film for horror lovers, but will it ever have a sequel?
Although horror has been a constant genre in cinema, the last two decades have seen a significant evolution with great productions such as Longlegsrecently, which was compared to the great classic and one of the best psychological horror films, The Silence of the Lambs (1991). In this way, fear has ceased to be a simple superficial element to delve into the depths of psychological trauma, offering the public a more intense and captivating cinematographic experience, and This is how a new terror was born, one that is based on trauma.
In 2014, Jennifer Kent revolutionized horror cinema when she brought babadook–which we recently mentioned how it ended up becoming an LGBTQ+ film–. This disturbing film, which explores family trauma and the pain of lossexceeded all expectations of the genre. Through the story of a mother and son dealing with the death of their husband and father, Kent shows how her characters experience their suffering in different ways, but The most powerful allegory is how the titular monster embodies unhealed emotional wounds..
Babadook managed to exploit trauma and turn it into the worst terror of all
babadook was about to become a horror movie with a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes, well, achieved an impressive 96% approval ratingwhich made it become a horror film phenomenon, acclaimed by both critics and the public. A decade later, His influence remains palpable and recentlyon the occasion of its tenth anniversary, the film was screened at the prestigious Austin Fantastic Film Festival, where director Jennifer Kent gave an interview.
And it is clear that when a film has achieved what it achieved babadookgenerally causes some studio or their own fans to pressure for a sequel. That is why in the middle of the interview Kent was asked if he intended to turn one of his best films into a franchise or, at least, give it a sequel.
Kent's response was overwhelming, and if you are a fan of the original film, you could either hate or agree with its sequel.
It's a resounding no. I don't have a problem with sequels, I just think that with this, somehow, they wouldn't be necessary. And I think if a movie isn't necessary, why spend money making it?
Kent's decision may be the best of all
The decision not to make a sequel shows the director's affection for her film
In fact, the legendary director Quentin Tarantino already spoke about something similar in the past when he confessed the reason why he would not see Toy Story 4, because it had ended perfectly with its predecessor. Something similar happens here: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Let's see, we have to keep in mind that many horror films have achieved successful franchises, such as Scream either Friday the 13thwhich have two of the villains with the most accumulated victims. But, when it comes to the “genre” that explores traumas, well, they are rather unique situations.
We'd all really love to see what happens to Peter after the heartbreaking ending of Hereditary (2018)or what happened to the entire world after the events of Us (2019)but, they are really films that we don't need. Sometimes, we simply have to leave the stories as they have been presented to us and that is why, even if you want with all your might to see a sequel to babadooknot having her is probably best for both the franchise and its loyal fans.
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