I wasn't that big a fan of Goodnight Mommy. I thought The Lodge was slightly better, but still nothing special. So my level of enthusiasm for The Devil's Bath, the latest film to be co-directed and co-written by Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz, was not exactly high. If I could have found any other option that looked slightly better then I wouldn't have chosen to watch it. That would have been my loss. It turns out that The Devil's Bath is the best film yet from Fiala and Franz, and I might now start being very interested in whatever they decide to do next.
Set in Austria in the 18th century, this period drama focuses on a troubled young woman named Agnes (Anja Plaschg), but it's actually a troubling reminder of how woman have been disproportionately mistreated and turned into pariahs when needing help with their mental health. Anja gets married, but the union doesn't seem to be a very happy one. That doesn't bother Anja's new husband, Wolf (David Scheid), but it bothers Anja. And it also seems to bother Anja's mother-in-law (Maria Hofstätter), who blames Anja for a situation that she isn't well-equipped to handle. Maybe turning to religion can help her.
While it's pretty bleak throughout, with the visuals matching the content, there's something engrossing about the material that stops The Devil's Bath from becoming unbearable or dull. Viewers will have to be patient though, especially when it becomes clear which way things are heading, but the various details of the situation that Anja finds herself in build up in a way that is fascinatingly horrible and still resonant throughout modern relationships and ingrained societal misogyny. Being made aware of the situation as an ongoing problem may not change things, but it's a damn sight better than pretending that we've become a progressive utopia for women throughout the intervening decades.
Both Hofstätter and Scheid do well with what they're asked to do, and both act in a casually heartless way that somehow doesn't feel over the top in the context of the time and place, but Plaschg is the broken heart and soul of the film, convincingly showing viewers a character who becomes more and more lost as she finds no proper help and support during her darkest days. While I was unfamiliar with Plaschg before this, I definitely want to see more of her work (as an actress, as a director, and even the music she has created under the name of Soap&Skin). She's so good here that I am currently battling against an urge to throw around some comparisons that could seem far too hyperbolic in the cold light of day, so to speak.
If telling this one story was the only reason for making this film then I would have still appreciated what Fiala and Franz did here, but it's not. This is a film that touches on much more than just the one story, even if the behaviours displayed here are nowadays often hidden behind closed curtains and mobile phone messages, as opposed to being open secrets in close-knit communities, and it's another reminder that we seem doomed to keep repeating dark parts of our history, whether we remember them or not.
8/10
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