The Devil on Trial Review: Going back to what shines bright on Netflix the most, the streamer has released the ominous crime documentary, narrating the facts of what was known as The Devil Made Me Do It case of 1981, aka the Trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson. The same horrifying story has previously been dramatised as the third movie of The Conjuring franchise starring Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. The Devil in Connecticut book covering this true case file deals with the same ordeal, but all these previous instances of documentation have formally been from the Warren couple’s perspective.

Now, with the latest Netflix documentary film with the runtime of 81 minutes, the lens has been moved to capture the Glatzel family’s takeaway of the whole situation. The film has been written and directed by Chris Holt, and it features direct interviews with David Glatzel, his eldest brother Carl Glatzel Jr, Arne Cheyenne Johnson and other members of the family along with the personnel involved in the case at the time.

The Devil on Trial Movie Review Contains Spoilers

The Devil on Trial Review: Discussion

Taking us back to the infamous case of the ’80s, the new docu-film investigates the dark events that followed the alleged demonic possession of a young 11-year-old David Glatzel, culminating on a fatal note as his sister’s boyfriend Arne eventually went on trial for the murder of his landlord Alan Bono. With charges on first-degree manslaughter on his Arne’s head, this case became the the first and only instance wherein demonic possession was used as a defence in a US murder trial.

We’ve seen demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren’s narratives come on top time and again. The entire Conjuring universe and its linked spin-offs and such stories have helped put the couple back on the map over the years. Yet even with these stories coming back to surface, the focus has largely been on them and not necessarily on the families plagued by the apparent horrors of the unknown lurking in the dark. With The Devil on Trial, Netflix brings these years-old case full circle as it proactively hands back the POV to the Glatzel family and Arne Johnson.

By doing so, the movie not only reminds us of the case that was re-awakened in recent memory through the release of the 2021 horror mystery movie The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, but it also puts it also accords the various perspectives, understandings, takeaways and even skeptic receptions to the happenings of the past. The interviews help reveal that members of a same family may have different responses to the same dilemma, especially when the situation calls for dealing with something that’s largely been regarded as an intangible entity.

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The docu-film doesn’t so much interest us with the debate whether these horrors exist or not, rather the time is more invested into humanising the context by letting the subjects in question speak for themselves. And these same people then also in a way put the demonologist who came out to supposedly help them on trial by questioning their morality. The Conjuring movies have long portrayed Ed and Lorraine as these saviours in disguise and that in turn has mostly depicted the pains incurred by them in the process of being involved with so many families and their complications. But what if these same saviours were not the white knights we’ve always believed them to be.

The latter half of the documentary allows the Glatzels to vocally incriminate the Warrens as con-artists. With their kind of unconventional profession in mind, we must also remind ourselves that they too need a way to keep the meter running, but since the movie doesn’t particularly offer the Warrens an active space to vindicate themselves off these charges, another outlook allows us to question their motives too. They may as well be paranormal investigators but that doesn’t stop them from being people with human urges inclining towards personal profit as well.

Thereafter, through David’s elder brother’s testimony we get to peek into a whole new understanding of what was happening with their family. It’s but natural to have someone who completely rules out the existence of the paranormal only to blame it on something more tangible that can be explained through the case of human error. David’s eldest brother and his father both offer that look at the other side of the coin, which when flipped, shows us David and Arne’s belief in the possession.

The Devil on Trial : Final Thoughts

Re-enactments supporting the talking head interviews help add an air of mystery and drama to the case that’s been brought up in pop culture mainstream several times. Christopher Holt’s initiative keeps the narrative relevant by offering it a human touch in the form of questionnaire that not only investigates the dark series of incidents but also the morality of those reaching out to help the victims.

It’s a suitable watch for this time of the season that allows you a different look at a familiar tale, and again fills us up with questions we may not have raised before. Regardless of what the underlying truth may be, it’s heartbreaking to witness a happy close-knit family be broken up in such a terrorising way.

The Devil on Trial documentary film is now streaming on Netflix.

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