A Head Full of Ghosts is a possession/exorcism tale… or is it?
The eldest teenage daughter of the Barrett family, Marjorie, is not quite herself. She’s telling horrible stories, hearing voices, and vomiting green goo. She’s terrifying her little sister Merry with tales both true and imagined. Although she’s taking her prescription medication and dutifully attending her various medical appointments, her condition does not appear to be improving.
Her parents or – more specifically – her father, reach out to a local catholic priest, Father Wanderley, for help. Suddenly, dear ol’ dad has rediscovered JC. He’s is praying at the dinner table, attending church multiple times a week, and giving the sign of the cross when Marjorie is ‘acting out’. It’s the devil. It MUST be the devil. … Right?
Father Wanderley conducts his tests and sermons and satisfies himself, and the higher ups, that this is a clear case of possession.
In their infinite wisdom, Marjorie’s parents then decide that this could be the answer to Marjorie’s condition AND to their financial worries. Before long, their troubled house is descended upon by a film crew and Marjorie’s woes become episodic television fodder.
All this is happening around little Merry, who is as bewildered by her sister’s behaviour as she is her parents’. It’s truly heartbreaking to see the undoing of the Barrett family through her innocent eyes.
The question at the heart of A Head Full of Ghosts is: is it true? Is Marjorie really possessed? Or is this the onset of mental illness?
I was thoroughly engaged with this story and found it to be truly scary, but not in the way I expected.
4 growing things out of 5.