A horror movie with an interesting monster and a script that doesn’t trust it
My brother and I spent way too long scrolling through the VOD and Netflix library, trying to find a good horror movie. Eventually, we came across the trailer for Bagman and decided: “Okay, let’s give it a shot.”
The result? A movie with an interesting horror concept that unfortunately gets buried under questionable character decisions, predictable twists, and a mythology that the script doesn’t fully know how to handle.
The movie definitely puts a huge emphasis on sound. Almost every everyday noise feels amplified on purpose — a car door closing, a phone vibrating, footsteps in an empty room…
Honestly, the biggest jump scares might come from those sounds rather than the creature itself.
The story follows an urban legend about a creature called the Bagman. According to the legend, he targets “good kids” with dreams and ambitions, steals the object they love most, and when they are at their most terrified, he takes them away inside his sack. Hence… BAG MAN.
We follow Patrick (Pat), who encountered the creature as a child but survived because he kept his beloved object close. Years later, the Bagman appears to be coming for his son, Jake.
And this is where the movie starts making things difficult.
The Opening Scene
Like many horror movies, Bagman begins with a Past scene.
However, I immediately found myself questioning the characters’ decisions. A father leaves his daughter alone at night near a car, even after she tells him she’s scared. It’s especially strange because he is presented as a caring and protective parent.
It’s hard to feel the intended tension when the audience is already wondering: “Why would you do that?”
Back to the Present
Patrick and his family move back to his childhood town, and Jake’s precious object turns out to be… a flute.
Honestly, I think noisy toys should be illegal.
Once, my cousin’s daughter played a toy flute for several very long minutes, and I swear I was shooting laser beams at her with my eyes. I know I’m not the only one.
Anyway — back to the horror movie.
The Bagman’s Rules
The Bagman starts appearing around Jake, pretending to be friendly and eventually breaking into the house.
And this is where I completely stopped understanding the parents.
The creature breaks into their home multiple times. It attacks Jake’s aunt while she is babysitting and nearly takes the child. Yet somehow, they continue leaving a toddler alone in his room, relying on a baby monitor that has already failed them.
At some point, the horror stops being about a supernatural creature and starts being about questionable parenting choices.
Seriously — just move the crib next to your bed.
There is also the issue of the Bagman’s own rules. The creature was seconds away from taking Jake after knocking out his aunt. So why didn’t he?
The explanation is eventually given, but the characters never seem curious about it. This is a creature that can overpower adults instantly, and it chooses not to take the child. Wouldn’t that raise a few questions?
Especially because the Bagman is only supposed to take children when they are terrified.
The problem? Jake barely seems afraid of him at all.
The Real Conflict: Patrick
The bigger issue is that the movie reveals its direction fairly quickly.
You can guess who the creature is truly after long before the characters understand it, and the entire “protect the child” storyline starts feeling forced.
The script practically tells us what is coming.
Patrick’s father warns him to keep his special object — a folding carving knife — close.
“If you lose it… or worse, throw it away…”
So when Patrick eventually breaks the knife in anger and throws it away, the conclusion is almost immediate.
The movie wants this to feel like a shocking revelation, but it feels more like waiting for the characters to catch up.
The Girl From the Opening Scene
Strangely enough, I found myself more interested in the girl from the opening scene than in the main storyline.
There is also a detail that bothered me: according to the Bagman’s rules, the creature steals a child’s beloved object before taking them.
But in the opening scene, the girl’s doll is still with her.
So… is that rule optional?
It made me wonder if the movie itself knew what rules it wanted to follow.
The Creature Itself
Despite the interesting concept, the Bagman himself is not particularly frightening.
The biggest problem is that he feels too human. The design doesn’t create the same sense of dread as the legend suggests it should.
Even when the hood comes off, the creature never reaches the level of horror the movie seems to aim for.
The Therapist Scene
The therapist scene feels completely out of place.
It feels like the writers needed a way to explain the Bagman’s history, so they simply had a character deliver all the information at once.
Patrick could have revealed the truth himself during an emotional confrontation, a breakdown, or a moment where his trauma finally surfaced.
That would have made the revelation much more powerful.
Instead, the information is simply handed to the audience — and the wife accepts it surprisingly quickly.
A More Interesting Possibility
Ironically, while watching the movie, I found myself creating a more interesting mythology than the one we actually got.
My theory was that the Bagman could have been some kind of family curse passed down through generations — and that Patrick was not just being hunted by the creature, but was eventually meant to become the next Bagman.
The family history already exists, so this direction could have added a much deeper emotional conflict.
And if the family knew about the curse, why not warn the town?
If children had been disappearing for generations, wouldn’t someone eventually connect the dots?
The movie briefly mentions another disappearance from years earlier, meaning the legend clearly exists. So why does nobody seem to talk about it?
Final Thoughts
Bagman has a genuinely interesting idea at its core. The concept of a creature targeting children’s attachments and fears has a lot of potential.
Unfortunately, the execution struggles. The movie relies heavily on atmosphere and sound, but the script repeatedly undermines itself with inconsistent rules and characters who make decisions that are difficult to believe.
It’s not a terrible horror movie — but it feels like one that had a stronger story hiding somewhere inside it.
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