The Devil on Trial

The entire first hour of this documentary plays out like a horror film, and when I realized early on that it's a re-imagining of the third Conjuring film, the events were less impactful. I'd read about the Glatzel case at the time, and while it seemed interesting from a cinematic perspective, I doubt there was enough material for it to be explored as a matter-of-fact documentary. But here, the makers chose not to go that route and spent almost 55-60 minutes detailing supernatural events that may or may not have happened, with scenes re-created in the style of a typical horror flick (replete with jumpscares).

It's only the final 20 minutes or so, that the titular case comes under question. The demonic possession plea was never accepted to begin with, and therefore, it really has no value in any of the proceedings. What did surprise me is how Netflix also decided to question the Warrens' approach to media and money-making when it has several films from The Conjuring universe in its catalog. That, to me, was an interesting take.