The Australian horror film “The Babadook” and Academy Award nominee “Boyhood” open Feb.6 at the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center. “Song of the Sea” and the 2015 Oscar nominated short films will be held over for additional screenings through the weekend.

“The Babadook” is not rated and shows through Feb. 12; “Boyhood” is rated R and shows through Feb. 19.

In “The Babadook,” Amelia, six years after the violent death of her husband, is at a loss. She struggles to discipline her “out of control” 6-year-old son, Samuel, a son she finds impossible to love. Samuel’s dreams are plagued by a monster he believes is coming to kill them. When a disturbing storybook called The Babadook turns up at their house, Samuel is convinced that the Babadook is the creature he’s been dreaming about. His hallucinations spiral out of control and he becomes more unpredictable and violent. Amelia, genuinely frightened by her son’s behavior, is forced to medicate him. But when Amelia begins to see glimpses of a sinister presence all around her, it slowly dawns on her that the thing Samuel has been warning her about may be real.

“Boyhood,” which is filmed over the course of more than 12 years with the same cast, tells the story of growing up through the eyes of a child named Mason, who literally grows up on screen.

Starring Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette as Mason’s parents, “Boyhood” charts the rocky terrain of childhood like no other film has before. Snapshots of adolescence from road trips and family dinners to birthdays and graduations become transcendent.

The film is set to a soundtrack spanning the years, from Coldplay’s “Yellow” to Arcade Fire’s “Deep Blue.” “Boyhood” is both a nostalgic time capsule of the recent past and an ode to growing up and parenting.

For more information on films at the Ross, go to http://www.theross.org or call 402-472-5353.