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6.5/10
Archivist John
Senior Editor
A definitive 6.5/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Betty's Bath remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
"Betty's Bath" is a tough one to recommend widely today, unless you're a real film history buff or just curious about cinema's absolute bare bones. If you're hoping for a story with a beginning, middle, and end, or even just some dialogue, you'll be pretty disappointed. But for those who appreciate a glimpse into early filmmaking's simple charm—or lack thereof—it offers a peculiar kind of experience.
The whole thing feel like a quick sketch, a fleeting moment caught on film. Betty, she just wants a bath. You see her, she’s getting ready, maybe a bit of a sigh. It's a universal, relatable moment, right? Until it isn't. 🛁
Then, the rat. 🐀 It’s not some grand reveal. It just... is there. It scrambles across the floor or maybe peeks from behind something. The exact staging feels almost secondary to the sheer presence of it.
Her reaction, that's the whole show. A quick startle, a gasp perhaps, a jump. It's over so fast, you almost wonder if you imagined it. The film doesn't linger. It just presents this one, simple, gross moment and then dips out.
You sit there thinking, "That's it?" And yeah, that's it. There’s no big chase, no dramatic confrontation, no moral about hygiene. Just a rat. In a bathroom. With Betty trying to have a bath. It kinda make you giggle, this tiny slice of life, or rather, this tiny slice of nope. No deep meaning here, just a simple premise played straight. Too straight, maybe. It doesn't even feel like a punchline, more like an observation that ends abruptly.
I kept waiting for something more, for Betty to grab a broom, or for the rat to do something truly outlandish. But nope. Just the rat, then the end. It's almost **bold** in its refusal to develop. A real "what you see is what you get" kind of deal. And what you get is very, very little.
The lighting is pretty basic, feels like natural light trying its best. The set is just... a bathroom. Which is fine. What else do you need for a bath? It's the starkness that makes the rat's appearance feel so jarring, even if the film itself is only a minute or two long.
I remember thinking about how different this is from, say, something like The Man in the Iron Mask, which has so much going on. Here, it’s just the one thing. And that one thing is a rat. Just a rat. 🤷♀️
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