Separation (2021) is a gender swapped Babadook, except it's about my B-WORD EX-WIFE who tried to take my daughter because I'm an unemployed comic book artist, and then when that dumb b-word got hit by a car (thank God lmao) she kept trying to rip apart our family FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE by fabricating evidence of child abuse which NEVER HAPPENED, OKAY??

This movie isn't that bad. It's at least unsettling at times. Like the Babadook, it uses supernatural menace to mirror the struggle of a flawed parent raising a difficult child alone, while both try to cope with the death of the other parent. Both movies also use a series of creepy 2D illustrations (in this case, a set of ironic Burton-esque monster characters the father created years ago) that seem to acquire a life of their own as the protagonist's mental state deteriorates.

I think what makes this movie funny is that it so hyperspecifically mirrors the kind of one sided narrative your bitter 45-year-old drinking buddy tells you about why his marriage fell apart, which you sort of nod along to without fully believing. The fears are real, but they combine one after another into a wild series of alternative explanations for a far more likely story of mutual failure.

As such, while The Babadook is a tale about parental fear, Separation wears parental fear as a flimsy disguise over a core that's really a male victimhood/revenge fantasy.

Let's walk through the movie from the dad's perspective. This is all presented to the viewer as fact.

• I'm the fun dad. I built a puppet theater for my daughter, I let her watch R-rated movies, we're always laughing and joking around, we have such a great rapport. My frigid wife barely even SEES her.

• Okay, my unsupervised daughter hurt herself playing in the attic. But it was caused by creepy supernatural activity, and anyway why does my wife have to go out and work so much? I can't be watching her all the time.

• Okay now she wants to LEAVE me?! Over one little bump when I looked away for FIVE FRICKING MINUTES?

• My b-word wife is going for full custody. Full custody!! And she's gonna get it, too! Why do the courts always take the mother's side? Just because I'm an unemployed artist who hasn't had a job in three years...

• Right in the middle of my wife's unhinged phone rant about how my daughter is her property, the dumb b-word gets hit by a car. Instant karma! She was talking on the phone in the middle of the street, she wasn't even looking where she was going.

• Well at least I get custody now.

• My father in law is a mean rich bastard who doesn't understand my struggle, he accused me of having my wife killed (WHAT??) and now HE'S trying to get custody??

• My daughter keeps acting weird and doesn't like me as much. It's because her mother's evil ghost is coming into the house and trying to turn her against me.

• See, I told you I could get a new job whenever I want. Within a few days of starting, I got promoted to lead artist on a scary new comic series!

• My daughter keeps getting into the attic unsupervised and hurting herself, but I always lock the door. It's those stupid ghosts who keep opening it.

• I fricked up those comic pages because the spirits put me in a trance, I'll get them in on Monday. Jeez.

• My b-word ex's ghost looks like this evil balding clown thing lmao

• I WASN'T trying to frick the babysitter. SHE came on to ME, and she kissed me but I instantly pushed her away, and there's nothing between us, okay? She's this psycho b-word who's obsessed with me.

• Okay my daughter got hold of some food she is deathly allergic to, but I wasn't careless, it was the EVIL BABYSITTER trying to poison her, I just didn't know it yet.

• I didn't put those marks on my daughter, why are the police accusing me of child abuse?? All I did was try to give her the Heimlich Maneuver when I thought she was choking.

• So it turns out the evil babysitter actually killed my b-word ex-wife even though this makes zero in-universe logistical sense. She was just obsessed with my peepee and she tried to get rid of my ex and my daughter so we could be together. I've still got it!

• So I guess my ex was SORT OF trying to get revenge on the evil babysitter, but instead of warning me about the truth, she just supernaturally tormented ME with a series of dubiously connected spooky happenings involving my old creepy cartoon characters.

• ALSO, my b-word ex kept trying to get my daughter to jump to her death out of a high window, which was open because THE FRICKING GHOSTS opened it, okay??

• So my daughter actually did fall out the window, but I jumped after her, and because of the power of love we both magically survived. I guess my b-word ex-wife finally decided to stop tormenting us because I FINALLY proved I'm a good father.

• No I didn't kill my father in law or the babysitter.

The resolution does involve a mild reconciliation with the mother (despite her supernatural evil), but this only completes the fantasy. And the whole thing seems almost comically washed in grievance. I do think we're meant to perceive the father's flaws, but they never actually hurt anyone. 95% of the bad things that happen in the movie are unambiguously done TO him by an improbable series of unsympathetic buttholes, ghosts, and a third act twist psycho. He's the ultimate victim, but at least you, the viewer at home, understand!

I think this movie would have been a lot better if it at least hinted at unreliable narration. The Babadook uses this very well, but Separation is too insecure for ambiguity. The former is about the fear of being a bad parent. The latter is about the fear of others seeing you as a bad parent.

As you might expect, you can catch this on Tubi, but I just spoiled the whole movie and it really isn't very good. Just watch The Babadook. !kino