The Devil’s Bath

Des Teufels Bad

TIFF65: Greek Premiere
The Devil’s Bath, by the Austrian directorial duo Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala (Ulrich Seidl’s partner and nephew, respectively), fearlessly confronts the countless monsters that have held sway over unwritten European history for centuries. In mid-18th-century rural Austria, Agnes (played with a physical vigor bordering on spiritual elation by Anja Plaschg, who also signs the film’s evocative soundtrack as Soap&Skin) inexorably sinks into the murky waters of depression and despair, gradually slipping into mindless violence. Against a mystical setting of gothic imagery, religious oppression, rigid dogmatism, mental illness, and institutionalized violence against women merge into a maze that leaves no room for escape.
Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.

Direction: Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
Script: Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
Cinematography: Martin Gschlacht
Editing: Michael Palm
Sound: Matz Müller, Andreas Hildebrandt
Music: Soap&Skin
Actors: Anja Plaschg, David Scheid, Maria Hofstätter, Natalija Baranova, Camilla Schilia, Lorenz Tröbinger, Claudia Martini, Agnes Lampl, Lukas Walcher, Reinhold Felsinger, Elias Schützenhofer
Production: Ulrich Seidl Filmproduktion
Producers: Ulrich Seidl
Co-production: Heimatfilm
Co-producers: Bettina Brokemper
Costumes: Tanja Hausner
Sets: Andreas Donhauser, Renate Martin
Make Up: Judith Kröher Falch, Tünde Kiss-Benke
Format: DCP
Color: Color
Production Country: Austria, Germany
Production Year: 2024
Duration: 121'
Contact: Playtime
Awards/Distinctions: Outstanding Artistic Contribution – Berlin IFF 2024, Best Film, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Editing, Best Score, Best Production Design, Best Makeup – Austrian Film Academy Awards 2024, Best Sound Design – Diagonale 2024

Veronika Franz

Veronika Franz was born in Vienna, Austria in 1965 and began her career as a film journalist. Since 1997, she has worked with director and film producer Ulrich Seidl as an associate artist and screenwriter. Severin Fiala was born in 1985 and studied screenwriting and directing at the Film Academy Vienna. The two first worked together on the documentary Kern, about the actor and director Peter Kern. They then made the psychological thriller Goodnight Mommy, which premiered in Venice in 2014, followed by the 2019 English-language film The Lodge. Both films were screened at the Thessaloniki IFF.

Filmography

2012 Kern (co-direction)
2014 Goodnight Mommy (co-direction)
2019 The Lodge (co-direction)
2024 The Devil's Bath (co-direction)

Severin Fiala

Veronika Franz was born in Vienna, Austria in 1965 and began her career as a film journalist. Since 1997, she has worked with director and film producer Ulrich Seidl as an associate artist and screenwriter. Severin Fiala was born in 1985 and studied screenwriting and directing at the Film Academy Vienna. The two first worked together on the documentary Kern, about the actor and director Peter Kern. They then made the psychological thriller Goodnight Mommy, which premiered in Venice in 2014, followed by the 2019 English-language film The Lodge. Both films were screened at the Thessaloniki IFF.

Filmography

2009 Elephant Skin (short, co-direction)
2012 Kern (co-direction)
2014 Goodnight Mommy (co-direction)
2019 The Lodge (co-direction)
2024 The Devil's Bath (co-direction)