The Devil's Bath
Directed by Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
In 1750 Austria, a deeply religious woman named Agnes has just married her beloved, but her mind and heart soon grow heavy as her life becomes a long list of chores and expectations. Day after day, she is increasingly trapped in a murky and lonely path leading to evil thoughts, until the possibility of committing a shocking act of violence seems like the only way out of her inner prison. Giving a voice to the invisible and unheard women of the rural past, THE DEVIL’S BATH is based on historical court records about a shocking, hitherto unexplored chapter of European history.
From the directors of Goodnight Mommy, comes a chilling psychological descent into the rural past.
Cast: Anja Plaschg, David Scheid, Maria Hofstätter, Natalija Baranova, Camilla Schielin, Lorenz Tröbinger, Claudia Martini, Agnes Lampl, Lukas Walcher, Reinhold Felsinger, Elias Schützenhofer
Member Reviews
Being based off a true historical story, this is one of my new favorite movies. I really enjoyed the actress and felt like what it would be like in that time.
Beautifully-shot, grueling slow-burn depiction of rough living and depression amongst 18th-century Austrian peasants. Folk-horror disturbingly based on real-world cases. RIYL: The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), Hagazussa (2017). TW: Mental illness, violence against children.
Beautiful, tragic, and bleak.
Somber Austrian psychological drama + Folk Horror starring one of my favorite musicians who also composed the score. It’s brooding, dark and depressive but perhaps most important for its success, fairly nuanced. You kind of wait for an overt supernatural element to explode but it holds tight. At 2 hrs its slow burn but I found moment to moment compelling and wonderfully endowed with lush, but dim, scenery. It’s based on some historical cases of suicide by proxy. There’s many ways to assess that but certainly the film is damning of the church and the structure of this society. TW: there is what appears to be a live goat slaughter. Its inclusion makes sense given the rural historical setting and the credits appear to have animal advocates…etc. / obviously done in accordance to laws. Don’t know how I feel about that specifically but there it is. For what it’s worth Im pretty sure Anja was also raised on a farm.
Would make a great double bill and opening act for The Witch. So well played. Not your typical horror movie, but absolutely a must watch in order to understand what women went through in rural Europe in the 1800. Very troubling, disturbing and also a great historical reconstruction.