The Devil on Trial

The Devil on Trial (2023) is a Netflix documentary you can watch online on iFILM. Did the devil do it? An American courtroom once had to take that question seriously — the only murder case where a lawyer argued his client was steered by something not of this world.

Connecticut, the early 1980s. A young man named Arne Johnson stabs his landlord to death, and instead of pleading jealousy or rage, his defence pins the killing on possession. The thread runs back to his fiancée's little brother, David Glatzel, whose family swears the boy was tormented for months until self-styled ghost hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren stepped in. Director Chris Holt hands the story to the people who lived it, letting the Glatzels speak for themselves while staged reconstructions sit alongside crackling home recordings of the exorcisms.

The film refuses to settle the argument. One half of the family insists they watched a demon take hold; the other quietly points to something far more human and far more painful. This is the real case that inspired The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, but there are no jump scares here — just a cold look at what grief and fear will make people believe. A sharp pick for true-crime fans who like a supernatural edge. Stream The Devil on Trial (2023) online on iFILM.