After premiering at the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival, writer-directors Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s The Devil’s Bath secured an exclusive US streaming release on Shudder. Unlike many of 2024’s other horror films I’m excited about — the big-budget A Quiet Place: Day One or Ti West’s trilogy-capping MaXXXine — The Devil’s Bath is a historical period drama that suggests a folk-horror bent. Starring Anja Plaschg, the Austrian artist behind the experimental musical project Soap&Skin, the film centers on an 18th-century Austrian woman named Agnes, who marries Wolf (David Scheid), a man she truly loves.

However, the couple’s would-be marital bliss takes a despairing turn when Agnes returns home with Wolf. Not only is Wolf disinterested in Agnes, but the couple are subject to the whims of Wolf’s manipulative mother. The isolated Agnes grapples with her growing depression, while the people and systems around her control her life. A haunting and nuanced psychological study, I found that The Devil’s Bath successfully leverages the confines of its period-piece setting to create the movie’s horrifying atmosphere — one that places looming tragedy over traditional scares in a way reminiscent of my favorite A24 horror movies.

The Devil’s Bath Combines Elements Of Midsommar With The Witch

The Devil’s Bath Will Entice Fans Of A24’s Best Horror Movies

In 2015, A24 released what would become one of my favorite horror movies of all time: The Witch. And I’m not alone in feeling that way about the self-described New-England folktale. The feature directorial debut of Robert Eggers, The Witch made $40.4 million against a comparatively slim $4 million budget, helped to propel Anya Taylor-Joy to stardom, and reignited enthusiasm for the folk horror sub-genre. Set in the 1630s, The Witch is also a period piece that prioritizes atmosphere and its characters’ complicated psyches over traditional thrills, which is why it’s one of my favorites.

The Witch

Distributed by A24, The Witch marks the feature directorial debut of Robert Eggers and the first film appearance of Anya Taylor-Joy. Written by Eggers, The Witch follows a puritanical family in New England in the 1630s who are forced to leave their community after a religious dispute. Attempting to set up a farm in the New England countryside, the family soon find themselves beset by malevolent and supernatural forces beyond their comprehension.

Release Date

February 19, 2016

Studio(s)

A24

Distributor(s)

A24 , Universal Pictures

Cast

Kate Dickie , Wahab Chaudhry , Ellie Grainger , Ralph Ineson , Sarah Stephens , Lucas Dawson , Anya Taylor-Joy , Bathsheba Garnett , Harvey Scrimshaw , Julian Richings

Runtime

92minutes

Budget

$4 million

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Why Midsommar & Other Folk Horror Movies Use The Triangle Symbol

The recent revival of folk horror has made use of many symbols that have a long history not only with horror fiction, but with the occult.

A24 followed up The Witch with Ari Aster’s Midsommar in 2019. The folk horror film stars Florence Pugh as Dani, a deeply traumatized and grief-stricken young woman who joins her distant boyfriend and his friends on a research trip to a midsummer festival in rural Sweden. Unlike The Devil’s Bath, Midsommar manages to create a terrifying atmosphere in broad sunlight, but it shares some similarities with Shudder’s upcoming release. In particular, I couldn’t help but think of Midsommar‘s insidious cult while Agnes grappled with her own controlling environment — even if she wears a berry crown instead of flowers.

Midsommar

Ari Aster’s Midsommar follows a group of American college students who travel to a friend’s isolated rural hometown in Sweden to experience their renowned midsummer festival. What starts out as idyllic quickly becomes a disconcertingly violent pagan ritual, with the friends engaged in a ruthless competition that will test more than just their friendship. Florence Pugh stars alongside Jack Reynor, Will Poulter, and William Jackson Harper.

Release Date

July 3, 2019

Cast

Julia Ragnarsson , Rebecka Johnston , Henrik Norlén , William Jackson Harper , Gunnel Fred , Anna Åström , will poulter , Archie Madekwe , Louise Peterhoff , Björn Andrésen , Isabelle Grill , Jack Reynor , Florence Pugh , Liv Mjönes

Runtime

147 minutes

Budget

9million

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The Devil’s Bath Was Directed By The Duo Behind The Lodge

The Underrated Horror Gem Stars Riley Keough

For me, Midsommar wasn’t the only 2019 horror flick that stood out for its atmosphere and psychological terror. In fact, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed The Lodge, the Riley Keough-starring movie that had the misfortune of hitting theaters just before the COVID-19 pandemic. The filmmakers who helmed The Devil’s Bath, Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, are also the writer-director duo behind underrated horror gems like Goodnight Mommy and The Lodge — and it shows. Keough plays a soon-to-be stepmother who winds up stranded in a rural lodge with her late fiancé’s children.

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Wait, Do Robert Eggers’ Folk Horror Movies Take Place In The Same Universe?

There are many similarities between Robert Eggers’ The Witch and The Lighthouse, and it’s been theorized the films take place in the same timeline.

As a snowstorm wracks the isolated area, Keough’s Grace and the two children, Aiden (Jaeden Martell) and Mia Hall (Lia McHugh), experience a series of seemingly supernatural events. Although she can’t explain what’s happening, The Lodge‘s Grace realizes that the phenomena seem to be connected to her haunting past. Much like The Lodge, The Devil’s Bath leans into the directing duo’s horror roots to deftly explore the psychology of its characters. Again, I find that isolation plays a huge role in both creating an eerie atmosphere and extenuating the characters’ distress.

The Lodge

2019’s The Lodge is a psychological Horror film that sees a man’s new wife stranded at a remote Lodge with his two children, who don’t take well to bonding with their new stepmother. Filled with paranormal-style events and some disturbing dream imagery, a cult-infused story plays out over the course of a few days.

Director

Veronika Franz , Severin Fiala

Release Date

February 7, 2020

Writers

Severin Fiala , Sergio Casci , Veronika Franz

Cast

Jaeden Martell , Lia McHugh , Alicia Silverstone , Richard Armitage , Riley Keough

Runtime

108 minutes

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Shudder’s Exclusive Horror Movie Proves Folk Horror Is More Than A Trend

The Witch & Midsommar Sparked Renewed Interest In Folk Horror

Clearly, I’m not the only horror fan to fully embrace these genre trends. In the late 2010s, A24’s horror movies revived arthouse horror’s popularity in the mainstream movie-going world. A sub-genre of horror, folk horror embraces folklore traditions to create an atmosphere of menace. Rife with a foreboding sensibility, folk horror films generally feature rural, isolated settings, which are perfect for breeding superstition and cults. My favorite part of folk horror is that it focuses on people, while merely suggesting the supernatural is at play. It’s something 1973’s The Wicker Man, a prime folk horror example, does well.

Most of the genre’s pioneers emerged in the late ’60s and early ’70s, but movies like The Witch and Midsommar have reinvigorated the genre. In fact, folk horror movies have since become popular fixtures of the 2020s, proving that the renewed interest in the sub-genre is more than just something trendy. The continuation of the folk horror genre’s popularity and spirit is what excites me mostaboutThe Devil’s Bath‘s upcoming release on Shudder. While the film is more horrific than pure horror, it delves into the sub-genre’s most successful elements.

The Devil’s Bath (2024)

Director

Veronika Franz , Severin Fiala

Release Date

March 8, 2024

Studio(s)

Ulrich Seidl Filmproduktion , Heimatfilm , coop99 filmproduktion

Writers

Veronika Franz , Severin Fiala

Cast

Anja Plaschg , Maria Hofstätter , David Scheid , Natalija Baranova , Claudia Martini

Runtime

120 Minutes

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