The wait is finally over, The Devil’s Bath was unleashed on us all yesterday from Goodnight Mommy directors
Steeped in dark, tragic history and told with brutal honesty and accuracy, The Devil’s Bath is a new slow-burn, dark psychological drama about female depression in 18th-century Austria.
The film begins with a crying baby, the cries echo through the vibrant green forest but the kid’s parents are nowhere to be seen. Has this child been abandoned? We then see an unknown woman go and lift the crying child. She takes the child, cradles it in her arms and tries to nurse the young one to sleep. She walks with the child in her arms until she reaches a waterfall with a huge drop. A beautiful wide-angle shot confirms the unsettling uneasiness in our stomach: she throws the young infant off the waterfall.
The woman, almost in a zombie-like trance walks to a large building and knocks on the door. When the door is opened he tells the man “I have committed a crime”. This, folks, is the bare bones of The Devil’s Bath.
A film about strict religious, Catholic beliefs and the stigma that comes with suicide: if you’re to take your own life then you will face eternal damnation. But, if one were to commit a horrendous, unspeakable crime and confess to a priest before sentencing, they are absolved of their crime. They therefore will be allowed into heaven after getting beheaded.
Unfortunately, this is all true and there were 400 documented confirmed cases of, what I guess we can call “indirect suicide”. The Devil’s Bath shows us two cases, two women who are so mentally unwell, that they do not want to be in this world anymore and see no other option but to get arrested for murder. Most of the 400 cases were women and, sadly most of the innocent victims were defenceless children.
We follow Agnes for 80% of the movie. We see her go from a newly, happily married woman, to feeling the extreme pressure of getting pregnant, when it seems that this is the husband’s fault. I can’t confirm but it looks like this dude is impotent which makes the film’s events 110% more tragic and heartbreaking.
Agnes has a severe mental breakdown and receives no support. She is constantly looked down on by her controlling mother-in-law. She eventually reaches breaking point, the point of no return and decides that she no longer wants to be in this world.
Since its release yesterday, I have already watched The Devil’s Bath twice. I can understand that some people would find this a bit slow – it is told with breathtaking detail. This is not a horror film and not a film for everyone. A remarkable filmmaking achievement, this is a tough watch…but an important one.
The cinematography is remarkable and the locations only add to the loneliness and isolation Agnes is feeling. We know what direction this film is going from the get-go but that doesn’t make it any less of a gut-puncher. The Devil’s Bath slaps hard!
For those who were expecting some sort of witchy folk horror, you’re not going to get that. But, folks, sometimes real life is a lot more unsettling than any witch or monster we can dream up plus the third act is harrowing stuff and not for the faint of heart.
Stream The Devil’s Bath today on Shudder
9/10 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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