Following the death of her estranged father, Iris learns she has inherited a run-down, centuries-old pub. She travels to Berlin to identify her father’s body and meet with The Solicitor to discuss the estate. Little does she know, when the deed is signed she will become inextricably tied to an unspeakable entity that resides in the pub’s basement – Baghead – a shape-shifting creature that can transform into the dead.
O, the folly of man!
This movie is about women suffering at the hands of men. It’s no coincidence that the people forced to come back from death are overwhelmingly women, channeled through a woman. In addition, there is a stipulation that after two minutes, the bagheaded woman has control of the ghost whose body she dwells in. I don’t know that that is necessarily correct. I wonder if the bagheaded woman reminds them of how and why they died at the two minute mark, and then lets the ghost vent?
- Neil’s mom: Arisen by mistake, to show how dangerous the bagheaded woman is and the way that the woman is treated by default. She committed suicide out of shame. “I never wanted to be a mum,” she says after the two minutes. Paraphrasing: “Every time I looked at you, I felt shame.” Her choices in bodily autonomy were taken in some fashion. Neil had no father, as he was passed around family and such (reflecting Iris), so he blamed his mother for her suicide. He links the trauma of finding her body to his treatment of women.
- Sarah: Neil’s wife, who died tragically in a car accident. The first half of the movie is spent trying to bring her back. It’s revealed that her tragic death was an accident caused by Neil drugging her to try to “calm her down”, control her. He yells at her to find out if she’s been with another man, and then tries to force her to be his wife even after death. It’s revealed that she had tried to leave him out of fear; her revenge comes in the form of manipulating Neil to kill Iris.
- Iris’ mother: Left behind by Owen, Iris’ father, she was killed by the lingering curse that followed him. She was upset and furious when he woke her up from death to tell her his plan, and her face was the one Baghead was wearing when he decided to kill her and burn down the pub.
- Owen: Iris, estranged from her father and left with no answers, finds herself with control for the first time in her life. She extends that control to Baghead as she takes on the masculine mantle of guardianship, but her choice is her father. To talk to him, to get him to tell her how to run things, to tell him she never needed him, to say that she could do it better. Owen is by far the easiest to bring back and the only one who does not seek some form of revenge, as he feels that being dead is paying penance to Iris and his family. Even after the two minutes up and the flames that killed him begin to burn, he has a few dear last words for her before she seals Baghead again. He also offers some compelling words: “Have you considered that she’s not your curse, but you’re hers?“
- Otto: Entirely accidental. Katie, as she investigated, ended up bringing back some of Otto’s belongings in order to try to resolve the curse of the pub. Baghead chose to take his form, allowing Katie a moment to ask her questions before seizing the opportunity to use her form to manipulate Iris. The entire point of his being brought back is to exposition dump: Baghead was once a human woman with these powers, which were abused heavily by the men around her. They realized she was growing in power and burned her as a witch. When she inevitably cursed everything, the men decided to imprison her, controlling her even after death, and then continued to use her power for their own ends. It reveals that Baghead has been there for generations, stuck in a dank fucking cellar with man after man coming down and forcing her to bring people back. Baghead has no agency, is a prisoner, and is fighting the only way she can in order to free herself from being used as a tool.
- Katie: Katie is the only one who changes Baghead completely, losing the rags. With her voice, Baghead brings Iris down, intent on using her to try to move on her own and ultimately break her curse.
- Iris: After Neil is manipulated into killing Iris, and then bringing her back, the two curses are brought together and effectively canceled out. Iris retains herself, and Baghead retains herself, but now they have agency over their lives and control of everything around them. Revenge is promptly taken and power is used to leave the prison.
Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but hey! Whatever. It’s an alright movie.
