The Stages of Parenthood

Last night, I watched a movie about parenting. And it was the most terrifying movie I’ve seen in years.

The Babadook is phenomenal. It’s about more than just parenting – grief, depression, guilt, children’s books, insomnia, cockroaches, monsters – but at its core it’s about a single mom trying to raise a difficult child on her own in the aftermath of a tragedy, and the toll it takes on her, her son, and their relationship. Also it’s about a terrifying monster from inside a terrifying children’s book.

It’s probably the best horror movie I’ve seen in years, not least because most of the scares don’t come (solely) from the supernatural but also the psychological (like other favorite Rosemary’s Baby, or maybe Don’t Look Now). I highly recommend it; just try to choose a day when your kids aren’t pissing you off!

You wouldn’t know that The Babadook is about parenting by the title. But what would a movie about parenting be called?


The Stages of Parenthood (via Movie Titles)

    Pre-Pregnancy: Days of Wine and Roses
    Trying to Get Pregnant: Don’t Look Back
    Pregnancy: Something Wicked This Way Comes
    Infancy: Insomnia (alternative: The Blob)
    One-year-old: Dazed and Confused
    Two-year-old: Wild
    Three-year-old: Fight Club
    Four-year-old: Help!
    Kindergarten: Cast Away
    Elementary School: 2 Fast 2 Furious
    Middle School: Breaking Away
    High School: Face/Off
    College (Double Feature*): The Great Escape; Gone in 60 Seconds
    Adulthood (Triple Feature!*): Victory; Cry Freedom; European Vacation
    Grand kids (QUADRUPLE FEATURE!*): You’re Next; Trading Places; Payback; No Holds Barred

*There’s finally time!


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One thought on “The Stages of Parenthood

  1. That movie looks terrifying.

    Great list of movies, though. Never thought of the different stages of parenting as correlating to movies. Gonna need to catch up on a few of these. 🙂

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