The Devil’s Bath

Austria / Germany | 2024 | German | 121 min | Horror | DCP

Synopsis

Upper Austria in 1750. A fishpond reflects the overcast sky. A deep, dark forest swallows the sunlight. On a hilltop, the corpse of a hanged woman is displayed. As an example. A warning. An omen? The deeply religious and highly sensitive Agnes regards the dead woman with pity. But also with longing: she feels like a stranger in the world of her husband Wolf, whom she has just married. It is an emotionally cold world consisting of work, chores and expectations. Agnes increasingly withdraws into herself. Her internal prison becomes ever more oppressive, her melancholy more overwhelming. Soon, her only way out seems to be a shocking act of violence. Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala create a profound and disturbing psychological portrait of a woman made of flesh and bone, sinew and soul, played by Anja Plaschg who, as Soap & Skin, also composed the score. Des Teufels Bad gives a voice to the peasant women who were invisible and unheard at that time and depicts their harsh daily lives defined by religious dogma and taboos whose impact resonates to this day. The film is based on historical court records about a shocking, previously unexplored chapter of European history.

Credits

Director

Veronika Franz, born in Vienna in 1965, studied German and philosophy and worked as a jour-nalist. She has also worked as an artistic collab-orator with Ulrich Seidl since 1997 and co-wrote the screenplays for all of his films including DOG DAYS (2001), IMPORT EXPORT (2007), the PARADISE trilogy (2012/13) and WICKED GAMES – RIMINI SPARTA (2023). In 2003 she also founded the Ulrich Seidl Filmproduktion GmbH with him. Severin Fiala, born in 1985 in Horn, studied at the Vienna Film Academy. He worked at the Red Cross and celebrated his first success with the award-winning short film ELEPHANT SKIN (2009, co-directed with Ulrike Putzer).