The Devils Bath Online

“In those days, they did not know what to call the darkness. So they called it the devil.” — Film tagline.

The story of (2024) is a harrowing historical drama and folk horror film inspired by the true accounts of women in 18th-century Austria . It explores the "devil's bath," a period term for chronic depression , which was then viewed through a lens of religious dogma and social taboo. The True Story: "Suicide by Proxy" the devils bath

The Devil’s Bath is a bleak, beautiful, and deeply unsettling film. It is a historical horror that uses its setting to explore themes that are still tragically relevant today. While it may be too slow for some and too depressing for others, it is a must-watch for fans of intelligent, atmospheric horror that lingers long after the credits roll. “In those days, they did not know what

Between the 17th and 19th centuries, Central Europe witnessed a wave of suicides and infanticides that baffled authorities. Historians examining court records from the Habsburg monarchy found that hundreds of peasants, mostly women, confessed to killing their babies or attempting suicide. Their stated motive was often the same: they were trapped in It explores the "devil's bath," a period term

: Because Catholicism taught that suicide led to hell, but confession and repentance after murder could lead to salvation, hundreds of people—mostly women—murdered others (often children) to achieve "suicide by proxy" via execution. Themes and Atmosphere 'The Devil's Bath' Review: Madwoman in the Cottage

Directors Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala did something radical. They researched actual court transcripts from Austria where women were suffering from what we now call severe postpartum depression and clinical melancholia. But in the 18th century, the church had a rule: Suicide is an unforgivable sin. If you kill yourself, you go to hell. But... if you kill someone else , and confess with a pure heart? You go to purgatory, or even heaven.

The film’s power lies in its historical accuracy. Franz and Fiala based the script on court records of 18th-century Austria, where a phenomenon known as "Besessenheitsmord" (obsession murder) or suicide-by-execution occurred. Women, trapped in clinical depression with no vocabulary for mental health, would kill a child (often their own) specifically to be executed. In their logic, a beheading by a merciful executioner was kinder than an eternity of hellfire for self-harm.