Film Review: "The Devil on Trial" (2023).

"Did the devil do it?" This is The Devil on Trial. This crime documentary film written and directed by Chris Holt. The film explores the first – and only – time "demonic possession" has officially been used as a defense in a U.S. murder trial. Including firsthand accounts of alleged devil possession and a shocking murder, this extraordinary story forces reflection on our fear of the unknown.

On November 24, 1981, Arne Cheyenne Johnson was convicted of first-degree manslaughter for the killing of his landlord, Alan Bono, in Brookfield, Connecticut. According to testimony by the Glatzel family, eight-year-old David Glatzel allegedly had played host to a demon. After witnessing a number of increasingly ominous occurrences involving David, his family, exhausted and terrified, decided to enlist the aid of Ed and Lorraine Warren in a last-ditch effort to "cure" the child. The Glatzel family, along with the Warrens, then proceeded to have multiple priests petition the Catholic Church to have a formal exorcism performed on David. The process continued for several days, concluding when, according to those present, a demon fled the child's body and took up residence within Johnson. These events were documented in the book The Devil In Connecticut by Gerald Brittle. Several months later, Johnson killed his landlord during a party. Johnson's trial, also known as the "Devil Made Me Do It" case, is the first known court case in the United States in which the defense sought to prove innocence based upon the claim of demonic possession and denial of personal responsibility for the crime. His defense lawyer argued in court that he was possessed, but the judge ruled that such a defense could never be proven and was therefore infeasible in a court of law. Johnson was subsequently convicted, though he served only five years of a ten to twenty-year sentence. The trial attracted media attention from around the world and has obtained a level of notoriety due to numerous depictions of the events in literature and television.

The film is sparse on deep diving into the details, but if anything, it chronicles a family broken by a shared experience and a person who is no longer here in connection to it. The first half gives a lot history that’s necessary for the story to make sense, but it isn’t presented in an interesting or refreshing way, while the second half that gives the film its title leaves way too much on the table to be satisfying. Instead of challenging assumptions, exploring implications or discussing the difficult questions here, Holt merely mines the material for superficial shock value and lurid titillation. For a family that has long been excluded from the overall discussion and whose adolescent years continue to be capitalized on by others, the film rights a wrong by allowing them to reclaim their narrative. The film delivers a fairly interesting look at a bizarre murder case that made headlines for being tied up in occult claims of possession.

Simon says The Devil on Trial receives: