Introduction:
‘The Devil’s Bath’ is a horror based on facts, the authors of other horrors, ‘Goodnight Mommy’ and ‘The Lodge’, are the Austrian directors Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala. Based on real events that occurred in 18th century Upper Austria the film is about a young woman, Agnes, who gets into depression and mental illness, and as a result of which she kills her children. A vision of a very creepy tale, stunning non-mainstream visuals and the vocal of Anja Plaschg: “The Devil’s Bath” is a pretty intense piece of art.
Release Date:
Following its pre-sales release in the two countries, Austria and Germany, “The Devil’s Bath” was released in theatres on June 28, 2024. At the moment the film has only been dubbed in German with English Subtitles. Austria and Germany, with a wider international release to follow. The film is currently available in German with English subtitles.
Crew:
| Role | Name(s) |
|---|---|
| Director | Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala |
| Producer | Ulrich Seidl |
| Music Director | Anja Plaschg |
| Story Writer | Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala |
| Screenplay | Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala |
| Editor | Michael Palm |
Cast:
| Character Name | Actor/Actress |
|---|---|
| Wolf | David Scheid |
| Mutter | Maria Hofstätter |
| Agnes | Anja Plaschg |
| Lukas | Lukas Walcher |
| Ewa Schikin | Nathalia Baranova |
Story:
It starts with the scene of disturbing topicality: Theresia initially drowns her baby, and then gets a death penalty for her action. We then get to know Agnes (Anja Plaschg) a young lady who is expecting to get married to a Man called Wolf (David Scheid) in a nearby village. Agnes is a fragile lady on whom the movie is based; she is happy when collecting small corpses of insects and spiders.
One day Agnes, the protagonist, changes her life radically because she marries a man called Wolf and moves in with him and his bad-tempered mother Gänglin Later, she realizes that she cannot even have children. As such, she is likely to be developing more and more depression as she feels she is surrounded by people who cannot understand her.
Based on the real event known as ‘suicide by proxy,’ when sinful people are killed to be executed and cleansed of sins, Agnes has a last opportunity to turn dramatic as a woman determined to end her suffering in any way.
Review:
“The Devil’s Bath” is a historical drama that premiered in Austria and has been shown in theatres since September; It was directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala and it was mainly for leap fear of societal pressure and mental anguish in the 18th century.
In this context we can identify the main female character of the story which is a newlywed woman Agnes (Anja Plaschg) who wants a child to which Wolf (David Scheid) agrees and even tries to impregnate Agnes by force but little does Agnes know that he has secrets and sins he has never unveiled to her. In the middle of her wanting to separate herself from the community that rejects all those it considers failures, Agnes struggles with infertility.
The movie has excellent visualization, thanks to the cinematographer, Martin Gschlacht, who made the Austrian mountains so beautiful that they become the scary dominion of the Witch while elaborately slicing the grotesque life of Agnes. Porsche has managed to provide not only her character’s gradual slide into hopelessness but do so with complete and utter sincerity. Occasionally, that can mean that the movie isn’t very fast-moving, but when it comes to developing the emotional payoff or the frightening atmosphere, it does so gradually and efficiently.
In sum, “The Devil’s Bath” has become a wonderful art-house drama, excitement and women’s torment and oppression that should meet slow-burning, indie crowd kind of expectations.
Positives:
- Stunning Cinematography: The film is shot in 35 mm by Martin Gschlacht whose work best suits the darkness and beauty of the 18th-century Austrian countryside.
- Powerful Performance: What they have achieved for this premise remains quite an impressive state of how appropriately Anja Plaschg plays Agnes and her emotions throughout the film.
- Thought-provoking Themes: The visual and emotional movie touching upon the topics of madness, conformity and religion is highly effective and the movie is highly disturbing.
Negatives:
- Slow Pacing: However, taking all things into account, it is possible to state that the chosen pace of the story is an issue for some of the spectators because some scenes seem to be dragged out to the maximum.
- Bleak Tone: It is also possible to predict that the extreme and completely unchanging emphasis on the negative nature of the tone and mood of the movie will be unbearable for people.
- Predictable Arc: Even though the audience gets involved in Agnes’s storytelling, her ending is not too far-fetched knowing that this movie was based on true events and what happened in the opening scene.
Technical Aspects:
- Direction: Franz and Fiala’s navigations are effective and tense, a sinister energy that continues throughout the movie ensues.
- Score: Anja Plaschg, who was already composing music for this movie, also took part in the design of the gloomy atmosphere of this movie.
- Production Design: News accounts pointed out that all the clothes used by the casts, as well as all the sets utilized in the making of the film, were a fitting portrayal of 18th-century Austria.
Performance:
Anja Plaschg gives the most vivid, deeply committed impersonation of Agnes; the rest of the cast is okay. The remaining cast is also good; Maria Hofstätter is a strict Gänglin and David Scheid is an oblivious Wolf.
Moviepoptime Review:
This is a true horror knowing that was a common thing at that time, mental illness caused by religion is almost a narcissistic abuse against a woman, she got married to a gay man in the closet, and his partner committed suicide when he realized they can never be together, and her husband even like her not as a wife, but as a woman, couldn’t save her from her mental state of guilty trip, caused by the judgement of others and
Conclusion:
Putting it bluntly, I would have to conclude that “The Devil’s Bath’ is a rather challenging film in comparison to many others in the same category or released in the same year or at least I would like not to sound rather unfair to assert that, though it does help to polish their directorial talents and acting abilities for the two main actresses. Although its story is quite dark and the pace is slow, you should watch it because of its magnificent view, philosophical overtones and good acting if you are into arthouse horror and historical films.
This perspective of the French culture and the flow and pressure of the MoMa regarding the taboo conception is so built up in the Age of Enlightenment that the common viewers will always assist with the mental health issue and oppression of ladies until the end portion of the film.
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