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Film: Baghead
Year: 2023
Director: Alberto Corredor
Writers: Christina Pamies and Bryce McGuire
Starring: Freya Allan, Jeremy Irvine and Ruby Barker
Review:
This is a movie that I heard about through podcasts. I know that Duncan, from the Podcast Under the Stairs, covered this one and even spoke to the director. It went on a list of movies to see for this year. Since there wasn’t a new release at the theater that I’m a member at, I decided to watch this as a featured review.
Synopsis: a young woman inherits a run-down pub and discovers a dark secret within its basement – Baghead (Anne Müller) – a shape-shifting creature that will let you speak to lost loved ones, but not without consequences.
We start this off in the old pub from the synopsis. The owner is Owen (Peter Mullan). He decides that he’s had enough and is going to kill this creature living in the basement. He records a video tape, giving instructions in case he fails. We then see him try to come up the stairs and he’s on fire.
It then shifts us to meet our lead, Iris (Freya Allan). She was just evicted from her apartment due to not paying rent. She has no money. Her friend, Katie (Ruby Barker), helps her break into her former flat to steal things that she can carry. Iris is going to have to go back to a homeless shelter and she doesn’t know what she is going to do. That’s when she learns about her father dying. Katie buys her a plane ticket so she can settle the estate.
Iris meets with a solicitor, played by Ned Dennehy. She learns her father owns the pub. It has been left to her and she signs the deed. There is an issue here though. There are debts on the property so she can’t sell it. She is drawn to the basement. The door has runes carved into it and she knows there is something not quite right here.
That’s when Neil (Jeremy Irvine) comes inside. This spooks her as they’re closed. He offered her two thousand dollars. It seems Owen was charging people to see the thing in the basement. She is unsure of what is going on here and Neil offers even more, up to four thousand. She takes what he has and tells him to come back the next day. Katie thinks it is a bad idea and she is coming to help. Iris lets Neil in and she discovers what is kept down there. A person comes from a crack in the wall. It has a bag on its head, which makes sense now for the name. Neil gives the thing a ring and then it removes the covering. Underneath is his dead mother. He asks questions and after two minutes, the responses turn dark.
Iris must decide what to do. Being as broke as she is, there is the prospect of using this entity and letting others speak to their relatives. Katie thinks this is a bad idea. Iris watches the video her father left and tries to make sense of what lives below. For two minutes at a time, she is in charge and Baghead must listen to her. Anything after that, Baghead does what it can to escape.
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start would be that even though this is a premise we’ve seen before, I like the variation we get here. This is a séance of sorts. There is just a dangerous entity that you are talking directly to. The rules here feel something like Talk to Me. This would be safer since you aren’t inviting it in directly. There are other issues that stem here as well.
Then to explore this idea more, I like how they set up this pub, Iris, her father as well as the entity. It is thanks to Katie and her interaction with this creature that we get information from the ghost of an earlier owner, Otto Vogler (Felix Römer). The question that I have, how can you fully trust what this monster is saying? I know it looks like a loved one, but our characters know that it isn’t them under the bag. We get glimpses as it puts things in its mouth to change. I take this as these people are so desperate, they want to believe that it is them. This makes for an interesting dynamic in building the atmosphere.
I’d also say that I love this setting of the old pub. I like the lore that we get set up. It is late in the movie that we get more about it. The only thing that I’m fuzzy about is who the brotherhood is. We know how Baghead came to live in the basement, but was Owen a member of this group before taking over? Or is this trying to say that when people become the owner, this monster sees them that way. This doesn’t need to be confirmed. Just something I was considering as things go to where they do.
One last thing about the lore, I love this idea that when you become the owner of this pub, as well as the creature, its magic affects you. It gives you access to seeing a loved one for 2 minutes without it lying, but the magic also has negative effects on your health. This seems like the idea that the runes holding it in the basement can only hold so much. The evil that it has become is able to seep through. I like that even in the limited time they are there, we see it affecting Iris. There’s another aspect here that she has no money. This gives her a glimmer of hope, but at what cost?
I’ll then take this to the acting. I thought that Allan was solid as our lead. I like the fact that she has hit rock bottom with her financial situation. It made me feel bad for her since her mother has died and was estranged from her father. There’s desperation here where she must decide how much of her humanity is she willing to give up for money to get her life back on track. Barker is also good as her friend who wants to help. Iris is tired of fighting though, where Katie wants her to keep going. There is also this interesting character in Neil and how he factors in the deeper things go. He might not be as nice as he appears. Müller does good body movements for the creature. Mullan, Römer and the other ghosts are solid. I also like Dennehy as the solicitor in his limited role.
Then to finish out with filmmaking. I’ve already said that I like the setting. Having an old pub with history is good. The creepy basement adds to it. There is good mythology built here for Baghead. I’d also say the look is as well. The practical effects we get are good. My only gripe is with CGI. It doesn’t ruin it though. The photoshopped pictures of people from the past aren’t great. I can overlook that though. Something that made me uncomfortable was people separating and then going into the basement. It makes you not know who you can trust, which was good. I’d say that the sound design here was good as well. Overall, this is made well-enough.
In conclusion, I thought there were good things here. We’re using ideas and concepts that we’ve seen before, just slightly different. I like the variation we get on the séance with Baghead. The lore and mythology they set up there was good. There are things with characters and their reactions that I don’t know if they fully work. There is solid atmosphere built from the setting and interaction with this entity. The acting performances were good. Thought this was made well enough. My only gripes there are with the CGI and minor things used. This is worth a watch though, especially if you like movies like this.
My Rating: 7 out of 10