“Daddy’s Head” is a beautifully crafted and unnerving exploration of grief and the lengths we go to in order to cope with unimaginable loss.
Daddy’s Head, written and directed by Benjamin Barfoot, is an atmospheric folk horror that centers around young Isaac (Robert Tunrball) and his tumultuous relationship with his stepmother, Laura (Julia Brown), in the wake of unspeakable tragedy.
Isaac has lost his mother. His father, James (Charles Aitken), has remarried Laura. It’s already a hotbed of horror when the unimaginable happens: James suddenly passes.
Isaac is left alone with his reluctant stepmother, who does little to hide her lack of maternal instinct or interest. The two of them find themselves consumed by the pain of loss and the fear of the unknown.
Laura doesn’t know how to get through to Isaac. She desperately wants to move on with her life now that her dreams have been shattered. Yet, she feels tremendous guilt over knowing Isaac will be put in the foster care system and removed from the home built by his architect father.
It’s a beautiful but sterile home in the isolated countryside. Exquisitely crafted but now chilling and foreboding, it serves as a metaphor for the film itself.
The weight of their pain is amplified when Laura and Isaac return from James’s funeral to find something lurking under their table. This dark, indescribable entity quickly escapes into the foreboding woods.
While Laura dismisses it as an animal, Isaac begins to see this dark creature in increasingly unsettling places, culminating in the film’s most terrifying sequence involving an AC vent in Isaac’s room.
The discovery of what appears to be a witch’s home in the woods adds a fairy tale element to Barfoot’s story, infusing the narrative with a sense of dark fantasy and mystery, though this is no children’s fable.
What draws Isaac to investigate, despite his fear, is one horrifying detail: whatever this thing is, it has his father’s head.
The film is anchored by outstanding performances from its small cast, who skillfully bring to life the characters’ emotional rawness.
It’s hard not to be impressed by their ability to bring the characters to life while ensuring viewers are swept up in the moving weight of the grief and confusion compounded by nightmarish horror.
Turnbull is remarkable as Isaac, effortlessly conveying a palpable sense of conflicting emotions as he wrestles with fear and hope. Brown is equally compelling, making Laura tragic and sympathetic as a woman struggling to do the right thing while reeling from the loss of the life she thought she would have. She understands the weight of the responsibility that’s been put on her shoulders, but it’s a responsibility she never asked for or wanted.
Even if she accepts her role as a maternal figure to Isaac, she can’t seem to get through to him or break down his walls of guarded resentment and distrust.
Reminiscent of films like The Babadook (2014) and the exquisite but underseen Possum (2018), Daddy’s Head is anchored by a strong emotional core and its potent metaphor for grief.
However, what truly elevates the film is its technical mastery — from stunning production design to captivating cinematography.
The editing builds tension masterfully, with strategically escalating appearances of the entity haunting the family, made all the more impactful by its haunting and horrifying creature design.
The ending may not satisfy all viewers as Barfoot opts for character-driven closure rather than nihilistic horror. Thematically, however, it’s a strong choice, suggesting that while we can never truly recover what we’ve lost, we might find a way to live with the absence.
Daddy’s Head is not for those who complain about pretentious arthouse horror or prefer more straightforward storytelling.
Yet, for viewers who appreciate atmospheric horror that engages with real emotional depths, Daddy’s Head is a must-see.
Overall Rating (Out of 5 Butterflies): 3.5
This review was filed from the world premiere at Fantastic Fest. It debuted on Shudder on October 11th.
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