O Banho do Diabo

This film is about depression and suicide in 18th century rural Austria.

It is wonderfully shot and we're told it is historically accurate and based on true events of actual women from that period.

This is not a horror film to be clear.

This is not a must-see film, either.

I think it may be an interesting film for psychology students or teachers, and perhaps for film students.

If one is familiar with depression and interested in it's historical interpretation, this film is relevant.

Other than those instances, I would not watch this film. Its simply bleak from start to finish and there's no redemption for anyone. You'll feel bad during and after your viewing.

Again, this is a well-shot, historical perspective on suicide by proxy. I felt that it was unnecessary to watch this film to understand that phenomenon.

It surely does take a significant amount of effort to recreate bygone era themes and this movie does that execution exceedingly well. From rituals to clothing to food, audiences would be thrilled and enamored to just comprehend what life was like back then.

Then it's the core theme of the movie, which revolves around what depression was like back then and how people dealt with it. Very much compelling and thought provoking.

But in between, this movie also has hideously slow pacing which can make audience yawn or even fall asleep, dreaming between 21st and 16th century.

There's a lot that could've been done here, but it seems the filmmakers decided to focus more on minute details of how people lived back then, than on developing a storyline that showcased how depression evolved.

Not a bad watch, but not something I would highly recommend as well. Gore was mediocre and felt more pushy and relevant.

I went into this with low expectations. It started off seemingly innocent enough. I wasn't sure where the movie was going. Without giving anything away, I will say that the movie shocks you before long. There are some scenes that run on too long but overall the movie was pretty good. The depiction of life in 1750s Germany was grim but there were moments of happiness. The main character's descent into mental illness was sad to say the least. The treatment at the hands of the barbers of the time only made things worse. I couldn't believe that things like that actually happened and was horrified to find out how often these things took place.

My only complaint is thst there was no explanation for why people were punished in certain ways.

The movie probably would not have been made without some modern liberal angle, yet it stands on its own merits as a chronicle of those times. The account is also pieced together from documentary evidence.

Bleak and harsh-yes-but life was simply like that. Death and starvation were everywhere. If you felt sorry for Agnes in the end, you're lost in modern mores. The denouement shows a tribe at ease with itself and with God. The punishment was just, and I felt satisfied with the outcome as logically consistent with the story, each character's role, and the way life was lived at that time.

It might have been tempting to "Apple-ify" or "Netflix-ify" it, but Germanic cinema can still handle authenticity very well. I hope Heimat Films continues making movies like this, exploring tribal life and life before the nation-state.

The preview mentioned mental illness, but that presumes an individual mind in an era predating Liberalism. You traveled with the tribe, produced the next generation, and that was that. And woe betide you if you did something that harmed the whole.

3.75 STARS - This is worth watching for the main actress's performance alone. She did a great job here, capturing the essence of the character in such a way that you truly sympathize with her plight, though you are horrified with what she feels driven to do once she is in "The Devil's Bath." I had no idea about the true events/practice this movie was based on so there were some things that confused and annoyed me initially. Once I realized what was happening, my perception about the film changed, especially after reading further into the facts this story was based on. Part of me thinks that if I'd known about these events before watching the movie, I probably wouldn't have taken the time to check it out. Especially since it's not your typical "horror" flick (though the events here are truly horrific). But I'm not sorry to have seen it, and in the end my only real complaint is that at two hours long, there were moments where this dragged more than it needed to. However, that's not really enough to keep me from recommending The Devil's Bath. Video review on my Cyn's Corner YouTube channel.