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.
[Severe Depression / "The Devil's Bath"] │ ▼ [Desire to Die + Fear of Eternal Damnation] │ ▼ [Murder of an Infant/Child] │ ▼ [Immediate Confession & Absolution by Priest] │ ▼ [State Execution / Beheading] │ ▼ [Guaranteed Entry to Heaven] Plot Summary: Agnes's Descent into Darkness
The Devil’s Bath is a highlight of the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, a protected volcanic park in the Taupo Volcanic Zone on New Zealand's North Island. the devils bath
: This practice involved depressed individuals—primarily women—murdering innocent children (who were believed to be guaranteed a place in heaven) so they themselves could be executed after confessing. Critical Themes & Style
The Devil’s Bath is New Zealand’s most surreal natural wonder, famous for its shocking, glowing green color. Located within the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland near Rotorua, this geothermal pool looks like a bubbling cauldron of toxic waste or alien liquid. Despite its menacing appearance and name, it is a completely natural phenomenon created by extreme volcanic activity. The Devil’s Bath is a bleak, beautiful, and
Directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala—the visionary filmmaking duo behind Goodnight Mommy and The Lodge —the 2024 film is a haunting, atmospheric historical drama that redefines folk horror.
The film meticulously documents the cyclical labor of pre-industrial womanhood: hauling water, scrubbing laundry in cold lye, scraping animal entrails, tending to a dismissive husband (Wolf), and enduring the passive-aggressive cruelty of her mother-in-law (Gänglin). Each chore is shot in real-time or near-real-time, creating a sensory immersion in drudgery. The house itself becomes a grotesque womb—dark, damp, and organic. Molds bloom on walls; meat rots in the pantry. This is not the quaint “cottagecore” aesthetic but a biopolitical prison. Agnes’s failure to produce a child (she suffers repeated miscarriages and stillbirths) marks her as useless in this economy of reproduction. The film implies that her depression is not merely chemical but systemic: she has no role, no voice, and no escape. [Severe Depression / "The Devil's Bath"] │ ▼
Franz and Fiala first learned of this dark historical loophole while listening to an episode of This American Life . Fascinated and horrified, they contacted UC Davis historian Kathy Stuart, whose research uncovered around 400 such cases of suicide by proxy across German-speaking Central Europe between 1580 and 1839. Stuart's book, Suicide by Proxy in Early Modern Germany: Crime, Sin and Salvation , served as the primary source material for the film.
This public link is valid for 7 days and shares a thread, including any personal information you added. This link or copies made by others cannot be deleted. If you share with third parties, their policies apply. Can’t copy the link right now. Try again later.