BAG HEAD 2024 | RECAP | MOVIE REVIEW | ENDING EXPLAINED
The movie opens at an antiquated bar in a decent German City. Here we see a guy named Owen who was the last owner of this bar and his ancestors had this with them for nearly 400 years. This bar was a bar only for its name shake as it never had any customers in it for over many decades. It had an infamous urban legend with it which had ruined its commercial aspects. Now we see a guy named Neil who was here to see that legend. He was ready to pay any amount of money for it but Owen refused it out rightly. He told him the same thing that he had told others like him, that is to take their Grif somewhere else.
Next, he records a message for someone. He says this property comes with a special tenant. She lives in the basement. She is tied to this property and to you. Since your name is now on the title deed, you are the owner of this property as well as her guardian. You must make sure that she remains in the basement forever. You are the last one standing between the outside world and her. This is your sole ask from now on. You cannot let her out, she is powerful and dangerous. You can't escape this place as she will force you to stay here. If you are watching this then it means I am dead. It also means you are dead too. In the next scene, we see him in the basement where he tries to burn down something. He drops petrol on an entity that tries to prevent him. His plan misfires and he catches fire by accident which burns him to death.
Next, we see two young girls Katie and Iris who were close friends and were like family. Iris had been evicted from a house so Katie was here to help her move out. These two young girls were grown up in multiple foster care homes which made their bond stronger. Katie offered Iris to stay at her place as long as she needed it as Iris had no place to stay. Just then Iris gets a call where she is informed about the death of Owen who was her father. She doesn't feel a thing about this news as she never had any memory of him. It is implied that Owen had abandoned his family and his daughter which caused hardship to her and her mom. Since she was living in another city she was called upon by the authorities to confirm his dead body as it was burnt to some extent.
Iris heads to the city and fails to confirm the body as she has never seen him in her adult life. Here a lawyer introduces himself to Iris and tells her about her inheritance from her dad. He showed her the big antiquated pub and explained its history. Over 400 years many had tried to rebuild it but they failed. It was in really bad shape but since it was in the middle of the city many people were interested in buying this property. Owen was reluctant to sell this property until the last minute since he believed that it was his duty to protect whatever the hell was in the basement. The lawyer here offers mediation and assures Iris of a decent amount of money if she is willing to sell this property.
Iris was taken aback by all these sudden changes as she had never expected that her dad had actually left her this big bungalow-type pub. She considers it as a blessing in disguise. Since presently she doesn't have any place to crash on so she decides to keep this property and crash for the night. During the night as she observes this place, she hears some weird sounds coming from the basement. The door of the basement was locked and on its wall messages were written in old Latin. All this seemed a little creepy to her but being raised in foster homes made her tough she was race she was ready to freeze any challenges.
Just then she felt someone moving behind her and when she went back to check it out the same guy Neil was there. He was again here to see the women in the basement and he was ready to pay 2000 or even 4000 for it. Apparently, the urban legend related to this place goes like this. In the basement of this pub, there lives an entity who can shapeshift. She can bring dead people back to life and people can talk with them for 2 minutes. Neil was here to talk with his dead wife and say a proper goodbye.
Iris heard this for the first time and it freaked her out. She was certain that there existed no such things in this world and this was just the act of a grieving man. She refused Neil at first but seeing his desperation she told him to come back tomorrow night. In reality, she needed money and she wanted to see where this would lead her. Iris later called Katie and told her everything, who being a more pragmatic and serious person advised her not to sign any papers without consulting her. She had already booked the tickets and asked Irish to wait for her.
But Iris didn't heed this advice. the next morning she went to the lawyer's office and signed the papers. This strange thing was the paper on which Iris had signed. It was 400 years old. One has to sign on it with an old ink with an old pen and in no way does it resemble the modern transfer of legal papers for property transfer. This in itself is a big red flag to indicate something is fishy. The lawyer in a cryptic way does his best to convince Iris to do the other way and just sell out the property but it seems Iris was reluctant to let it go. He then hands her the video cassette the one which we saw Owen recording at the beginning and says good luck.
In the evening when Katie arrives, Iris explains logic. She says this pub is famous for being a haunted place people are willing to pay $2000 just to look inside the basement. My dad used to do this game a long time ago but he stopped somewhere down the line. If I could reopen this term then I could mint a decent amount of money. Katie was not sure about this as all this gave her many Red flags. Later Iris tells Neil that she is not responsible if he doesn't find his wife down there. She will just open the doors and allow him to roam inside for a few minutes and he has to return back. She was hoping that he would not find anything down there.
Neel agreed and all three went down. The basement was huge with two chairs in the middle. One had many straps on it and the other one was a normal chair. The basement wall had a huge crack in it and it seemed there was ample room inside. Neil started calling for that entity but he got no response. Iris and Katie laughed a little seeing this but when Iris called the entity emerged from that crack. It had a bag on its head and hence the name baghed.
This freaked all three of them at once as they had never expected to see this. The baghead immediately started attacking Iris who in panic ordered her to stop, to which the baghead stopped immediately. Meaning she was obeying Iris as she was the new landlord of this place and her new guardian. Katie was scared to see all this and wanted to head back but Iris was stubborn. She just doubled the price for Neil and asked the baghead to sit on the chair. As it obeyed this order Neil sat in front of her. He placed his wife's ring on her hand and tied her to the chair so that she wouldn't escape. Baghead consumed the ring in order to bring his dead wife but something different happened. Instead of bringing back his dead wife Sara had brought back his mother. Neel was disappointed and sad to see his dead mother who had committed suicide 20 years ago. He was angry at her as everyone blamed him for her suicide.
On the other hand, his mom was confused as to how she ended up here. Just then a black liquid-like substance started flowing from the crack and Neil's mom got possessed. In this state she says, I never wanted you, having a kid is like dying by thousand deaths. The day I died was the happiest day of my life. Clearly, Baghead had possessed her and now she vanished from the chair without a trace. Meaning she indeed had many supernatural powers with her yet she was confined to this room. As she started attacking Neil, Iris ordered her to get back to her place which clearly irked her. She was hoping for her new owner to be different from the rest but Iris was just like them.
Neil says it must be due to the ring as it belonged to Mom first and then I gave it to Sara. He was willing to bring another object tomorrow and do this all over again. But Iris and Katie were freaked out by this episode. They asked him to leave this place ASAP. Neil again assures that the money is no problem, he is willing to pay any amount of money to see his dead wife again. It looked like he really loved his wife and was missing her terribly, but this is a great gamble hope he was up to it.
After this episode, these two girls decide to watch Owens's cassette. In the video, Owen repeats the same thing, he says the entity is tied to this place. she will obey you as your name is now on the dead. She will give you 2 minutes to interact with the dead beyond that she will be in control. She will try to force her will, she wants to get out of this place by any means. You are the only person standing between her and the outside world. If she gets out then the doom will occur. You have to keep her in the basement at all the time. She will not let you get out of this place. death and illness will follow you if you try to do so. In a way, this place is a prison for both of you. I tried to leave this place many times but I couldn't. Owen here genuinely apologizes to Iris for not being in her life. After hearing this Iris starts crying as she now knows her dad's real dilemma.
Katie was scared hearing all this she wanted to leave this place as soon as possible but Iris had other plans. These two needed money just to survive in this world. Katie hoped to finish law school while Iris wanted to open her art studio. This old pub and this entity gave Iris an idea of making quick money. Though dangerous the risk and reward seemed fair to her. She writes the words do not cross on the stairs heading to the basement implying that Bagheld must never cross this line. This was her direct order to Baghead.
After this Iris heads out to Niel's house and offers him another chance. Neil says after Sara's death I was in shock and shock. I attended multiple grief counseling sessions and community gatherings. I was in really bad shape at that time then one guy from the gathering told me about this place I was willing to do anything at that time, so I believed him. I approached Owen many times but he always refused me. Iris explains the videotape and the rules.
Back at the house, a photograph fell in front of Katie while she was taking extra precautions. In it, we see the same lawyer with another old guy whose name is Otto Vogler. He was the owner of this place in the 1970s. Katie on the internet finds that this guy had died by suicide, his family too died in a tragedy. As she was reading this suddenly Otto's ghost appeared in front of her which terrorises her. It is clear that the Baghead was playing tricks with her mind or the ghosts of all the people who had died in this place still here. By any means, this place is not a place for young teenagers to make some extra buck in a quick way.
Neil gives Sara's necklace to Baghead and it turns itself into Sara. She had died in a freak car accident months ago. Now comes the twist in the story where Neil is not here to say goodbye to her but is curious and rather furious to know with whom she was cheating with him. Sara pleads that she never cheated with him but she indeed wanted to leave him. She had a big fight with Neil and in anger she went away from the house. Just before she could finish the two minutes were up. The Baghead again possesses her and finishes the sentence. I left you because I couldn't stand you. I was scared of you. Whether this was Sara talking or the Baghead talking was not clear but it was certainly clear that the relationship between Neil and Sara was not normal.
Iris quickly tried to cover the entity but she was nivie. The Baghead showed her the final moments of Sara and revealed its true face. As she started attacking and strangling Iris, Katie attacked her from behind and placed the bag on its face. The back head while retrieving to her place says we both are prisoners in this house.
After taking a break Neil wanted to go at it again but Katie stopped him. She was clearly in horror seeing all this. Later that evening Iris saw her dad's ghost, she knew that it was the trick of the Baghead and said in her mind I am not scared of you. Because of this baghead shows her the final moments of Owen.
Where he was sitting with his wife Catherine. But in reality, it was Baghead. Over many years he had realized that he couldn't escape this place, he couldn't see his child. In a drunken state, he starts to burn down this place. Baghead pleads with him to release her so that both of them can be free. If he had released her then his life would have been normal and she could be able to walk out free. But Owen like many ancestors before him thought she was too dangerous to get out. He pores petrol all over her and as he tries to burn her down, he misses it. The fire catches him. Iris saw all this in the form of a vision yet she was not scared of it.
At night while sleeping she gets a nightmare where her dad was in front of that wall crack. His face was all messed up and it was peeling like skin. Iris knows it is Baghead who is messing with her mind so in anger, she tries to strangle her. But it backfires as in the real world she starts to choke on the key thread which she was wearing around her neck. Iris runs to the bathroom to get rid of it but falls to the ground. Then Katie who heard the noise came running and quickly severed the thread with a knife and saved Iris. For Katie, this is it. This was the limit beyond which she was not able to take any risk and she dragged Iris to that lawyer's office to cancel the deed.
Surprisingly the lawyer was missing so was his office. It seems his job was to put a new victim's name on the deed and move on. In Iris, he found a perfect match who needed a place to stay as well as had ambitions and desires. To be fair he pleaded many times with Iris to sell this property to someone else so that she could get some decent money.
Here heated argument occurs between Katie and Iris as Iris wants to stay here despite seeing all the risks and Katie thinks it's nuts. Iris was really scared of returning to her old life where every day was a struggle. Here she had an opportunity to make a ton of money from the sufferings of that entity. Katie in disappointment leaves Iris to her state and heads to a place where the previous owner Otto Vogler used to research this entity. She discovers many files and papers and heads back to the bar.
Iris on the other hand invokes her dad and starts to talk with him. Owen was shocked to see this place as he thought he had burned this place to the ground but in reality, he had died. He feels sorry for seeing Iris in this situation and he reiterates that she should stay away from the basement and she should never use her power for monetary gains. Iris in a desperate move tries to burn the deed but it fails. Seeing this Iris drinks heavily and gets wasted on the floor.
After returning to the pub Katie didn't find Iris anywhere. She thought she might be down in the basement. As she went there to check it out Baghead started attacking her. In panic, all the documents in her hands got scattered across the basement and she quickly ran back and crossed the line with the marking don't cross. Just then Baghead consumed one of the images and transformed herself into Otto Volgler who narrates the story.
Nearly four hundred years ago a group of brothers discovered a woman who could conjure dead people. They wanted to use her for their benefit. But when she refused they branded her as a witch and burned her on the cross. Even the death couldn't kill her, she survived. Her vengeance spread like a disease, livestock died, crops perished and plague hit the masses. the brothers performed a dark ritual and imprisoned her in an underground tomb. Centuries later their descendant's greed overpowered them and once again they started abusing her. The more they used her, the more powerful she became and slowly they started dying. Now only one person stands between her and her revenge. Kattie was shocked to hear all this and in a panic said, my friend inherited this place. She never knew about this. Before she could finish the sentence, Baghead took control of Otto and attacked Kattie.
On the other hand, Iris received the voice message where Kattie was pleading with her for help. She was down in the basement. Iris hesitantly enters the crack in order to save her friend but there she finds her dead body as Baghead had already killed her. In horror, she tried to run but the attack continued. Somehow she escaped the crack where Neil was outside who saved her. He brought her up and gave her some pills to relax. Iris was shattered to see all this as her only true friend in all these years had died due to her. She now decides to seal that crack for good and Neil agrees to help her. But due to the pills, she suddenly felt unease so he asked her to rest. After some time Iris heard someone's voice, upon checking, it was Neil's. He was trying to make a deal with Baghead, he offered himself as the new guardian and wrote his name on the deed. He offered full freedom to her in return demanded that she become Sara whenever he required. Baghead said it wouldn't work like that, only after the last guardian's death one can become a new guardian. Neil's name vanishes on its own from the deed. Then Baghead transformed into Sara who started ranting against him.
Here it is revealed that Sara didn't run from Neil's house due to any affairs issue rather she was scared of him. These two used to fight often and on the night of her death, Neil had given her wine filled with pills. She was so afraid of Neil that she thought it was not a good place to raise a child in that house. Just then Baghead takes over her and says you can still be together with Sara if you could kill Iris. Iris heard all this from back and started running to save herself. Neil followed her to the roof where he was willing to kill her. For him, his obsession with Sara was too much. Hence he pushed her down which killed her. Later he brought her body to the basement and gave her phone to Baghead to transform. As Baghead transforms, Iris is disappointed, she says to Neil I can't write your name on the deed as my name is still on the deed. Baghead overtakes Iris and sets herself free. She torments Neil and kills him with ghosts of his mother, Sara and Iris. She easily crosses the basement and burns it to the ground. Baghead was finally free for the first time in 400 hundred years. The world will face her wrath now. With this, the movie ends.
The film has lots of ups and downs but I surely liked it. It's a feminine revenge story. It shows that even an ancient entity, which has become a little demonic, is better than a man. It explores the different human emotions with this entity.
Originally the brothers tried to abuse its power but failed. They learned their lesson and sealed her up for good. Over the centuries, the greed in their descendants grew and they started giving their shot at her. As their greed increased Baghead became stronger and they perished. Owen could have released her after suffering for years but his anger, his frustration got the better of him. One haste decision got him killed. Neil was surely a disturbed man, right from the time when his mom left him. Since then he has been possessive towards his wife. It started an unhealthy reaction in the marriage which ended up in Sara's death with her child. He tried to move on but the grip of possessiveness, the idea of proving himself right was all over his head. He paid the price for this.
As for Iris, I believe she was just plain ignorant. She was an orphan, she wanted to thrive in life. She thought of this entity as a means. Instead of behaving like a boss if she had listened to the entity she and Katie, she would have been much better. She could have got more money by selling the property than gambling with the powers she doesn't understand. I am pretty sure the entity would not have harmed her if she had released her voluntarily. I guess the greed got the better of her by the time she realized it, she had lost Katie and herself. The moral of the story is don't abuse anyone, it will bite you one day or the other. Overall the movie is decent, surely a light horror flick with good VFX.
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