Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘The Devil’s Bath’

7/1/2024

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Anja Plaschg and David Scheid as Agnes and Wolf in Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s THE DEVIL’S BATH. (Photo Courtesy of Shudder. A Shudder Release.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the motion picture, ‘The Devil’s Bath’.

There is a strange and unsettling movement happening in the world right now. In that, there are a symphony of strange voices that are crying out into the night… for society to return to a more… classical era. Wherein the world doesn’t seem so convoluted and progressive to them, and well… those voices are growing in chorus… and in influence. For they are winning elections around the globe and entrenching similar voices into positions of power to lay down the foundation to turn back the clock, which so many others fear, and rightfully so. Because the past should remain there for a reason and well, what a lot of this voices want to return to… isn’t healthy for all in the slightest.

But despite a fair of number pointing out how going to the past will rob people of their rights and bring back measures of hate that were buried for a reason, these voices keep getting others to listen. Leaving all of us to wonder how best to combat what they want and really help others to understand why these voices need to be silenced and/or shouted out of existence, and well… perhaps storytelling can help in such matters. Since it educates in the simplest manner possible, and it just so happens… that a powerful tale about the dangers of going backwards is available to stream on Shudder right now, and that makes The Devil’s Bath an important film.

Simply because, it transports us back in time to 18th Century Germany. Where a simple life exists. For there is nothing but the land and community, and religion and family. In fact, when we meet Agnes on the day of her wedding to Wolf, the wonder of this era seems to be genuine. Since there is joy and love between the couple, and hope for a long life together complete with a family. But as married life wears on, and Agnes works to balance her new duties as a wife, alongside the curious nature of her personality… the wonder of the world disappears. For she quickly finds herself under fire for thinking differently, for not waiting on her husband hand and foot and that puts her in a deep depression. One that is of course believed to be related to infection but in reality… relates to the fact that she has no future and no purpose outside of being her husband’s property and that… will drive her to incredible acts to be free of the emotional and mental prison she finds herself within.

Which at first glance, just seems to be a dramatic story about days gone by and the sorrows of that past, one free from horror and disturbing parallels. But make no mistake about it, this is a terrifying film… one that does showcase how far we’ve come and why we cannot go back. For to strip women of their rights and make them items and possessions is a horrific fate. One where, we see the lights go out of Agnes’ eyes as she realizes that her fate is a void. One without creativity and thought and emotion, just servitude and pleasure for others and that is indeed a disgusting future for anyone to face, and should never be the case, but was and could be again, and if that alone is not enough to hammer home why we should never embrace the past again… the film makes sure to offer up more talking points on the matter… to truly help us understand.

A feat that allows for us to see… what a person of Agnes’ intelligence and desires will do to be free, and how far they will go to find happiness and peace, which is potentially achieved in this instance, through wanton acts of outright violence. So that they can be pulled away from a life that is mundane and awful and find peace of some kind of direction that doesn’t involve staring into the distance and hoping something better is on the horizon. Which brings forth a stunning and shocking downward spiral for Agnes. One that prompts her to do things that are outright unthinkable and awful, and that brings about a stunning conclusion to this tale. One that speaks to how mob mentality helped to keep this kind of lifestyle going and how mob mentality is in many ways, fighting a good fight to bring it back now.

Which makes this film a horror story about the ugliness of humanity, and the darkness we are capable of when we embrace stupid traditions and ideologies that do not matter, and it is very much a chilling and cautionary tale. One that showcases a dark era in our history that for some reason, people want to see return and we simply do not know why. Since this story reminds us… that progress matters and that ideologies die for a reason, and to try and keep them alive is cruel and unusual and disgusting. All of which brings forth a powerful story that quite frankly, devastates the audience and leaves them in deep thought when the end credits roll, and that’s not a bad thing. For great horror makes us think and gives us pause and this film does just that by offering up a glimpse of what was… and what could be again.

Watch ‘The Devil’s Bath’

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