The Devil on Trial (2023)

The Glatzel family went through some crap in the 1980s. David, one of the kids, claimed to have been possessed and proceeded to act out enough so that the Warrens (Amityville, The Conjuring) showed up and pushed for an exorcism. According to this documentary, during the exorcism, Arne (a family friend) yelled at the demon to take him on instead of David. When Arne killed a man several months later, he claimed it was due to that invitation that the devil was actually able to use Arne's body to stab the guy. The defense attempted to use that in court.

I did believe in the sincerity of the talking heads in this doc. I believed grown-up David thought he was possessed as a kid and I believed the oldest brother was sure it was a bunch of hooey. I also know that when I'm extremely frightened or enraged that it can feel like I'm not in control... but that doesn't make me guiltless when I behave badly.

From the title, I was hoping for the focus to be on the case rather than the backstory. I should've known better.

D+