Jennifer Kent Tells Us What Horror Filmmakers Need to Know Today

Not to be hyperbolic, but in 2014, The Babadook was part of a major shift in filmmaking that shook audiences and the horror genre to its core—and not just because it was one of the creepiest movies of the year.

Up until that point, much of the era's mainstream horror was fairly straightforward, comprised of jumpscares, gore, and traditional monsters, supernatural or otherwise. The previous year had given us a slew of remakes and sequels, and we were coming off a big period when zombies were the enemy du jour. And although The Conjuring franchise had just been launched, many horror fans were still looking for something more.

Enter The Babadook, writer/director Jennifer Kent's supernatural story about a widowed mother raising her young son. The titular monster shows up along with a mysterious book, peering out of the shadows in his now iconic hat and coat, face split in an eerie smile.

What Kent managed to do here (and what was unique at the time) was to keep the mother and son at the forefront; it was a family drama first, and grief was the true monster. And it just happened to show up in the guise of the Babadook.

This was the period that people started talking about "elevated horror." Sure, a movie could be scary—but did it explore deeper themes? Did it use horror as a tool to say something about the human experience? Were we frightened not only because of those horror elements, but also because the characters were going through something so traumatic and deeply relatable that it left us devastated in new ways?

If it's been a while since you saw the movie, you're in luck. IFC Films, in partnership with Iconic Events, will present The Babadook—followed by an exclusive filmed Q&A with Kent—in theaters nationwide Sept. 19 to 22.

We were able to speak with Kent ahead of the movie's anniversary screenings and ask her what she learned as a filmmaker during The Babadook, what she wants new filmmakers to know, and what she thinks of horror now.

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Editor's note: The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

No Film School: The Babadook was your debut feature. What do you think were the biggest lessons that you learned from making that first feature?

Jennifer Kent: I think before you've made a film, you never know if you're going to get through. You really have no idea. It's a virgin sort of experience every step of the way, which makes it kind of terrifying, but also liberating because you don't have any preconceptions of what's necessary.

I'd studied acting, had acting training for five years, and I'd worked as an actor and I'd worked on sets as an actor. So it wasn't an entirely foreign planet to me. It was something that I knew. I'd always been a storyteller, even as a young kid, I'd written plays and directed them and acted in them. So there was an inherent understanding of the process of storytelling.

I just really trusted my gut, and I was very lucky to have final cut on Babadook. To have that authorship. So I knew that I was the one driving the bus and it wasn't some studio or some financiers who were going to take the film and ruin it or finish it. So yeah, those things gave me a lot of confidence.

NFS: Looking back on it now, 10 years later, what are you most proud of about the film?

Kent: I think the fact that we made it for a skinny budget and that I'm really proud of the purity of it. I'm proud of the quality of it. I think it was made for 1.5, 1.6 million. It looks like a film that costs more than that.

I'm really proud of those actors. I think that Noah [Wiseman] was six when we shot. He's so young. Essie [Davis] I'd known for many years. She's a close friend of mine. I'm really proud of those performances.

Essie's husband is Justin Kurzel. He's a filmmaker. He made The Snowtown Murders and Macbeth and many other wonderful films.

And I remember at one point when I was flipping out about something in pre-production and panicking that something wasn't right. I had up two photos, one of Essie and one of Noah, and he said, "Just look at those two. That's your film. That's what you have."

And I really remember that and took his advice. Whenever I felt scared or nervous, I just focus on those two actors and focus on giving them my all. So I'm really proud of that.

Essie Davis and Noah Wiseman in Jennifer Kent’s THE BABADOOK. Courtesy of Matt Nettheim. An IFC Films Release.

NFS: At the time of the film's release, horror was a much different landscape. You told New York Magazine that you didn't think filmmakers at the time knew the worth and potential of horror. So what are your feelings on the horror genre today?

Kent: I feel that it has gained more acceptance. I think that it's still very hard to get films made. It's not ever easy, but I think that there are more avenues now for a horror film that has depth and complexity and strong characters to be made. People see the worth in it.

When you look at the films that are attended at cinemas, horror is still something that's being screened on the big screen, which is phenomenal. So I think it is that's really changed. And then they're not just big gore fest films that are being watched in cinemas. There are a lot of great smaller, more intimate horror films that are being viewed as well, which is fantastic.

NFS: It was such a pivotal moment in horror, where a lot of those more introspective stories started getting told. I was not able to see this film when I was at Sundance. I did make it into It Follows. That was just a wild year for horror at the Sundance Film Festival.

Kent: Sundance gave us so much. It was such a positive experience premiering there at the midnight screening. They just loved the film. I mean, we knew six months out from screening there that Sundance had chosen it and we couldn't tell anyone.

But then when we got there, we were just so warmly embraced. It was such a beautiful memory. I can't believe it was 10 years ago, but it just really kickstarted my career, and I'm so thankful to Sundance and to that experience.

NFS: In what ways are you continuing to grow and challenge yourself as a filmmaker?

Kent: Well, I've turned down a lot of horror. I've turned down a lot of films. Even good films, actually, that ended up being made and were good and strong. I'm very true to what I want to make, and that probably has meant I've made less things.

I have several scripts that I'm really passionate about and proud of. And one project in particular looks like it will go next year. I'm in it for the long haul.

I think I like to challenge myself and not repeat myself. I think it's important for me to choose things that speak to me personally, but that are not necessarily the same as the last thing. I could have done eight versions of Babadook by now and bored everyone senseless, but I'm looking for new things that challenge me and speak to me, and hopefully to others as well.

Essie Davis in Jennifer Kent’s THE BABADOOK. Courtesy of Matt Nettheim. An IFC Films Release.

NFS: Do you have any advice for an up-and-coming horror director?

Kent: I think horror is a very wide canon. There are a lot of films that sit in this genre that people don't know about. And I would suggest to those young emerging horror lovers and filmmakers, go and watch all those films.

Go and sift back from silent film onwards and find as many of them as you can and just sit and watch them. Don't just watch films from the last 10 years. Go back to the 1920s, see what's there. 1940s. Look beyond English-speaking films. There's an enormous amount of films, say on the Criterion Channel. Get a subscription to that if you're in a region where you can pick that up, and watch Japanese horror, watch Italian horror, watch French horror films. They're out there, and they're beautiful. And then I think once you've ingested all that, find out what speaks to you personally.

Don't worry about what other people are doing. Find out what frightens you, what moves you in this space, and then go and write and direct a film that you really love and try and make it with as little interference as possible. I know that's easier said than done, but that's what I would suggest is important.

[Lastly], horror is a really independent genre. You look at all the history of horror filmmaking, it's largely independent filmmaking and it's anarchic and subversive, and it needs to be that way. And when you have someone come in and take your vision away and make it blander or more acceptable or more palatable to a certain kind of audience, then it's just not true to its roots anymore.

NFS: Is there anything else you wanted to add?

Kent: One other thing for young filmmakers—don't wait for someone to give you a career. No one as a director is ever going to say, "Why don't you become a director here? Here's the money."

I used to be a teacher, and I don't mean full-time. I taught filmmaking. And people would say, "How do I become a filmmaker?" And I think that's the wrong question. That may sound arrogant, and I don't mean it to be, but you have to find your own way.

For me, my way was I saw Dancer in the Dark. I'd seen Festen [The Celebration], another film that was made by that Danish crowd, and I just knew I wanted to go there. So my way was to find out Lars von Trier's email address, write to him directly, and ask if I could be on set on his next film.

And that worked out for me. I was promised one day on set. So I got the money together to go from Australia to Denmark and then to Sweden for the promise of one day on set of a director who I loved. That's how dedicated I was, and I ended up staying the entire time.

But the reason I bring that up is because no one told me to do that. That was just something from my gut. I want to tell stories. How do I learn? Maybe you want to go to film school, but maybe like me, that's the last thing you want. So just find a way to learn what you can. We're in an age where you can go out and make a film with very little money. I didn't have that technology growing up.

The options are endless.