Volume 11 Issues 5 May, 2021
Movies deal with human emotions in one way or another. They make us cry, laugh, get terrified and excited.
Death and a life beyond it have captivated the interests of many around the world. These movies not only deal
with the afterlife but also the complexities of human grief and other emotions. As a psychiatrist, I wonder if
that’s what makes horror movies so exciting for me. Here are some reviews or thoughts on two of such movies
that stood out in a long list of my favorites.
SPOILERS AHEAD
BABADOOK (2014)-
Death of a loved one is terrifying. What if this death is tied to the one event that is supposed to bring joy to any
family? What if the birthday of your child is on the same day that your husband died? Amelia lost her husband
to a gory accident that happened right in front of her eyes. Her son Samuel, born on the same day her husband
died, is an imaginative yet troubled child who thinks his mother needs protection from a monster named
Babadook. He has been getting into trouble at school and has not been sleeping well lately, which has added to
the burden of single mother Amelia. Meanwhile, for Amelia, Samuel is a constant reminder of her loss as
evidenced by the musical instruments and clothes of her husband that she still keeps. As per the strange
storybook that Amelia finds in her home, Babadook torments those who become aware of its existence. The
more Amelia denies its presence, the more stronger and stranger the occurrences at home become. Over time,
it becomes apparent that Amelia’s behavior has started to become more erratic and she has started becoming
more irate and violent towards Samuel. As time progresses Babadook possesses Amelia, kills the family dog,
and threatens to kill Samuel. Samuel demonstrates his love for his mother and this expels the “demon” out of
her. As Virgil once wrote, “love conquers all”. With this newfound strength of love toward her son, Amelia
defeats Babadook in a final battle and banishes him to the depths of her mind/heart/basement. In one of the
most satisfying endings of any movie that I’ve watched, Amelia becomes a more attentive mother, celebrating
her son’s birthday for the first time, with Babadook still alive and being fed and subdued by her courage and
optimism.
So, what was it that possessed Amelia? Was it the unresolved grief translating into hatred and blame toward
her own son? Was it this darkness of unending sadness and sense of loneliness that stopped Amelia from
seeing her son’s love? As the story ends, Babadook has been pushed into the darkest corner of her house, fed
and acknowledged but never given the power to overpower. Perhaps Amelia realized that the monsters of the
past could be conquered by the powers of the bright present, future and LOVE
LIGHTS OUT- Lights Out (2016) deals with how depression and guilt affect generations. How this
depression then consumes the life of a mother and her two children, forms the basis of this story. The movie
starts with a chilling murder to set the tone. We get a sneak peek into the lives of Sophie and her two children.
The elder daughter, Rebecca, estranged and living independently and her younger brother, Martin is still living
with Sophie. The difficult childhood of having to live with a mentally ill and emotionally unavailable mother is
evident in Rebecca’s own relationships as well as the multiple scars on her arm.
Martin has been having trouble in school lately and Rebecca is being called for questioning since their mother
is not reachable. He has been sleeping at school for unknown reasons. Rebecca returns to her mother’s place
to find out what has been going on. There she finds her mother in the same dark place she had always been
throughout Rebecca’s childhood. Having stopped her antidepressants, she was not caring for herself or her
son and had started talking to her ‘imaginary’ friend “Diana” again. One can see this apparition in the dark,
which disappears when light is shone upon it. Rebecca had left the home due to a strained relationship with
her mother brought on by the latter’s depression and her all-consuming friendship with Diana. Following an
encounter with Diana, Rebecca decides to understand the origins of this evil and stumbles upon the story of
her mother. Diana was a fellow inmate and friend of Sophie’s who supposedly had driven her father to suicide,
was known to be sociopathic and was on treatment in the same mental health care centre as Sophie. She had a
photosensitive skin condition that made her prefer darkness to light (hence the movie name) and died
horrifically while on treatment for the same. The depression in addition to the guilt that she had left Diana
alone during her death prompted Sophie to keep Diana close to her. The guilt for abandoning her mother
when she needed her most probably prompted Rebecca to do whatever possible to make her mother feel
normal again. The highlight of the movie is the second half where Rebecca, her partner and Martin try to save
Sophie from the clutches of this dark force. Over time, it is clear that Diana has been eliminating anyone that
has been trying to save Sophie by starting her on treatment, including her spouses.
Diana was proving to be too strong in the presence of a broken Sophie who was prevented from taking
medications by the former. The only way for Sophie thus, to rid her family of this evil was to kill herself;
thereby taking this evil with her. The ending shows how the orphaned children are safe but are left alone in
this world.
As the director of this movie, who himself suffered from depression intended, that” Diana” here is the
depression that thrived on Sophie’s sadness/darkness. By preventing her from taking her antidepressants, she
was essentially isolating herself from her loved ones. The movie ends with Sophie killing herself, in other
words, taking the darkness/Diana along with her since the only way to save others was by doing so. This begs
the question; is suicide the only answer to every problem/mental illness? By sacrificing oneself, was she
saving her family or hurting them since now the children have lost both their parents? Of course, as a
psychiatrist, I would have enjoyed a less dark end to this movie. Do humans need to fight their own demons?
Or do we enjoy the good television that these demons provide? Either way, let us wait and watch for more
intelligently made horror flicks that will capture our undivided attention.
