Netflix is teaming up with author and producer Daria Polatin to adapt her novel titled Devil in Ohio, which she released in 2017. Based on true real-life events, the limited series will tell the story of a girl who escaped a satanic cult. Here’s what we know so far.
Author Daria Polatin will serve as showrunner as well as the head writer of the limited series. Polatin previously worked on such projects as Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Castle Rock, Condor and others. The show will be directed by directors John Fawcett (Orphan Black), Brad Anderson (Titans), Leslie Hope (Lost in Space) and Steve Adelson (12 Monkeys).
Netflix’s Devil in Ohio will be produced by Polatin along with Rachel Miller of Haven Entertainment (Crash Pad, All Summers End). Here’s everything else we know about Devil in Ohio:
What’s the plot of Devil in Ohio?
Netflix’s Devil in Ohio will be based on the 2017 novel of the same name by author Daria Polatin. It is based on a true story and Polatin originally wrote a version of it as a TV pilot, so this limited series comes full circle in a way. Polatin commented on this in an interview with Book Room Reviews:
I was interested in writing about what happens to people when they’ve been in isolated communities, and wrote a TV pilot about a cult. Then when I heard the true story of a teenage girl who escaped from a satanic cult and moved in with her psychiatrist’s family, I had to tell it. A novel seemed like an exciting way to write that story, and the true events became the inspiration for Mae, Jules and the Mathis family. Devil in Ohio explores the timeless struggle between good and evil, and the strength it takes to overcome the adversity of your past.
Here is the story synopsis for Devil in Ohio as seen on Polatin’s official website:
When fifteen-year-old Jules Mathis comes home from school to find a strange girl sitting in her kitchen, her psychiatrist mother reveals that Mae is one of her patients at the hospital and will be staying with their family for a few days. But soon Mae is wearing Jules’s clothes, sleeping in her bedroom, edging her out of her position on the school paper, and flirting with Jules’s crush. And Mae has no intention of leaving.
Then things get weird. Jules walks in on a half-dressed Mae, startled to see: a pentagram carved into Mae’s back. Jules pieces together clues and discovers that Mae is a survivor of the strange cult that’s embedded in a nearby town. And the cult will stop at nothing to get Mae back.
Asked about the details of the origins of the story, Polatin replied:
The book is based on a true story, the background of which I will keep under wraps, but a lot of what happens in the book actually occurred. I took artistic license in order to fill in the blanks and flesh the story out in a way that worked for a book.
Who is cast in Devil in Ohio?
The lead star of Netflix’s Devil in Ohio will be Emily Deschanel who is best known for her role as Temperance Brennan in Bones as well as Angela in Animal Kingdom. Deschanel stars as Suzanne, along with Sam Jaeger as Peter, Gerardo Celasco as Detective Lopez, Madeleine Arthur as Mae, Xaria Dotson as Jules, Alisha Newton as Helen and Naomi Tan as Dani.
How many episodes will be in Devil in Ohio?
The Wrap confirms that Netflix’s Devil in Ohio will consist of eight 45-minute episodes.
What’s the production status of Devil in Ohio?
Production for Netflix’s Devil in Ohio is began on September 8, 2021 and will wrap on December 7. Filming is to take place in Vancouver, Canada according to issue 1251 of Production Weekly.
What’s the Netflix release date for Devil in Ohio?
Netflix hasn’t set a release date for Devil in Ohio as of yet, but we may be looking at a mid-late 2022 release window, considering the production dates.