The Devil's Bath
Directed by Severin Fiala and Veronika FranzAustria in the 18th century. Forests surround villages. Killing a baby gets a woman sentenced to death. Agnes readies for married life with her beloved. But her mind and heart grow heavy. A gloomy path alone, evil thoughts arising.
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The Devil's Bath Ratings & Reviews
- Michael HeimgartnerMarch 14, 20257/10 – A Devastating Portrait of Isolation The Devil’s Bath (2024) is not just a film—it’s an experience that weighs on you like a stone. Directed by the brilliant duo behind Goodnight Mommy, this Austrian period drama immerses the audience in the suffocating loneliness and despair of a woman trapped in the rigid expectations of the 18th century. The film is shot with a documentary-like realism, making the protagonist’s struggles feel painfully authentic. Every frame is carefully composed, capturing both the beauty of the era’s landscapes and the suffocating bleakness of its societal constraints. The dialogue, thick with Austrian dialect, adds to the immersion—though as a Swiss viewer, I found subtitles necessary to fully grasp it. This is not an easy film to watch. Themes of mental illness, isolation, and even violence against children make it deeply unsettling. The film’s slow, methodical pacing reinforces the protagonist’s crushing despair, mirroring her descent into hopelessness. In many ways, its oppressive tone and brutal inevitability reminded me of The Substance. While The Devil’s Bath is undoubtedly heavy, it also feels essential. Mental health struggles—especially among women in oppressive systems—are as relevant today as they were in the 18th century, yet they still receive too little attention. It’s not a film for casual viewing, but for those willing to engage with its weighty themes, it’s a deeply affecting piece of cinema.
- qmechanJanuary 23, 2025A woman seeks out her own end, but by her own faith, she is penned. She treks through the horror As her town did ignore her. If you're feeling this way, call a friend!
- rg9400November 1, 2024I struggled mightily with this movie which moved at a glacial pace while struggling to maintain any sort of immediacy or tension. The opening scene is vivid and evocative, but unfortunately, the rest of the movie fails to live up to it. I do understand the point of the movie, which it kind of beats you over the head with by literally writing it out in an epilogue title card. I did find the way the opening scene links into the larger plot and this concept to be interesting, but the problem is that it only becomes relevant at the very end. Everything leading up to that is not connected to it, and instead, it tells the story of a woman in a suffocating marriage and her descent into depression. A worthy story, but one executed significantly better in a variety of other movies. The acting, cinematography, etc. are all adequate, but not noteworthy, so the movie fails to be entertaining even on a technical level. There is very little actual horror. Overall, I found it very bland and uninspiring, and even if the historical practice it wanted to explore is fascinating as a concept, by only really depicting it at the bookends of the movie, it fails to actually mine that concept for any depth either.
