Seven years after the unsettling odyssey of The Babadook (2014), the highly anticipated sequel The Babadook 2 returns in 2025 with the creative vision of director Jennifer Kent once more steering the helm. This time, the narrative shifts from psychological horror to a deeper exploration of trauma, family, and generational echoes. The film follows Amelia, now in her early thirties, as she grapples with a haunting legacy that refuses to stay buried.
Following the ambiguous yet emotionally intense conclusion of the first film, The Babadook 2 imagines Amelia as a single mother, struggling to balance work and parenthood. When her young son Maxwell begins to exhibit eerie behaviors—like reading from the original Babadook storybook and sleepwalking—the boundaries between healing and haunting blur.
Amelia’s home, once a refuge, becomes a labyrinth of shadows. Tapping into unresolved grief and guilt, she seeks help from Dr. Adelaide Pierce, a trauma psychotherapist who specializes in supernatural phenomena. But neither therapy nor medication can quiet the Thing in the Shadows.
As Amelia fights to maintain control, the Babadook figure returns in fragmented glimpses—slivers of this spectral entity lurking in mirrors, reflected in windows, whispering from darkened corners. A series of terrifying incidents follows: Maxwell’s bedroom bathed in midnight blue light, Amelia discovering a second copy of the ominous book buried beneath her floorboards, and a childhood friend revealing his own Babadook scars.
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Essie Davis reprises her role as Amelia with haunting nuance, balancing fractured strength with lingering doubt.
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Ava McKenna debuts as Maxwell, capturing innocent curiosity tinged with creeping dread. Their mother-child dynamic drives the film’s emotional weight.
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Indya Moore shines as Dr. Pierce, delivering grounded empathy and fierce determination in the face of transcendent terror.
Kent amplifies her use of claustrophobic spaces and moody lighting. The visual palette leans heavily into blacks, grays, and midnight blues, with sharp contrasts—pale faces illuminated in dim halls, silhouettes flickering through frost-framed windows. Sound design excels at unsettling creaks, distant whispers, and that signature Babadook thump—each echo amplifying psychological unease.
While the first film assessed grief and maternal breakdown, the sequel delves into inherited trauma. It asks: Can the sins of the past be exorcised, or do they manifest through generations? Amelia’s struggle becomes emblematic of parenting under emotional weight—how one broken past can ripple into a child’s psyche.
At around 420 words, The Babadook 2 stands as a triumphant continuation—intellectual, resonant, and deeply unnerving. Kent’s direction is as assured as ever, drawing out tender performances and elevating terror beyond simple jump scares. This is horror that questions: not just what we fear, but why. For those craving thoughtful frights with emotional depth, The Babadook 2 proves that some nightmares are worth revisiting—and surviving.
