Meet Mr. Karma

While the debate goes on about female roles in mainstream movies, women continue to kill it – literally and figuratively – in genre films. On the second day of the 2014 Berlin Fantasy Filmfest, audiences were treated to consecutive screenings of a trio of strong flicks with an actress in the lead role, two of which also have a female director/screenwriter behind the projects. Honeymoon stars Rose Leslie, and Starry Eyes features Alex Essoe, but it is Essie Davis in The Babadook who turns in the most remarkable performance. Working in her feature film debut, director/writer Jennifer Kant unleashes childhood horrors on a defenseless widow (Davis) and her maladjusted son (Noah Wiseman) in a movie that works the nerves of the audience by manifesting familial dysfunction and behavioral disorders into the ultimate boogeyman in the closet.

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