Welcome Home Baby
Director: Andreas Prochaska
Writer: Daniela Baumgärtl, Constantin Lieb, Andreas Prochaska
Cast: Julia Franz Richter, Reinout Scholten van Aschat, Gerhard Liebmann, Gerti Drassl, Maria Hofstätter, Inge Maux, Linde Prelog, Erika Mottl, Beatrix Brunschko
Part of: SLASH Filmfestival
Seen on: 18.9.2025

Content Note: misogyny, forced pregnancy

Plot:
Emergency doctor Judith (Julia Franz Richter) grew up in Germany with a foster family but is brought back to the village in Austria where she was born after her biological father passed away, leaving her a house including a medical practice. She and her husband Ryan (Reinout Scholten van Aschat) just want to sell the house quickly and return to their lives, but the villagers expect her to stay, above all Paula (Gerti Drassl) who introduces herself as Aunt Paula and seems to know more than she lets on. The longer Judith stays, the more images from the past appear to rise to the surface for her.

Welcome Home Baby has excellent performances, good camera work and works well with the tension it needs, especially in the beginning. Unfortunately, I have to add a big BUT: But it tells a story that is drenched in misogynistic tropes and loses itself in a vague ending.

[SPOILERS]

Welcome Home Baby starts off really strong. With eerie images and excellent performances and a great location, the movie ropes you in and manages to rack up the tension. Gerti Drassl steals everybody the show with her sickly sweet Paula who appears to be nice on the surface and hands out slap after verbal slap, overstepping every boundary. She is both hilarious and deeply unsettling at the same time. But really, all of the older women in the film are.

Unfortunately when it is revealed what is happening, I was really, really angry. And this is where the spoilers come in. You just cannot make a film in this day and age that is an uncritical, unsubversive film about evil female witches who steal babies. It is never exactly mentioned what they want the baby for but it is implied that it makes the stronger again (one character says that she already feels so much better when Judith is pregnant). At least, it avoids the antisemitic rendition of that trope (contrary to Weapons), but that is only a small conciliation. It’s misogyny at its finest.

In addition, it is made very clear that Judith never actually wanted to have children. Then she is magically impregnated and drugged and only basically becomes conscious again when giving birth. And then her lack of maternal wish is never mentioned again, instead we get to see her as basically a proud mom fussing over her baby. No real coming to terms or anything. That just reinforces sexist ideas.

Finally, and this is again on a more narrative than sociolopolitical level, the ending of the film is just confused. We never know exactly what the witches are doing or how Judith is fighting back and it leaves the film weaker for it. (I am also not a huge fan of Judith’s release from her abuse basically boiling down to „be stronger“.) The great showdown is evocative like a fever dream, but not really satisfying.

In short, the film shows good craftmanship for the most part, but little understanding of what it is saying with its story.

Summarizing: problematic.