Arne C. Johnson, 19, of Brookfield, CT, arrives at Danbury Superior Court where a grand jury was asked to indict him in the stabbing death of Alano Bono, 40, on February 16th in which his attorney says was work for the devil. (Photo by Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)
Retracing the trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, Netflix’s The Devil on Trial is about a man who sought to prove innocence based upon the claim of demonic possession.
Dubbed the “Devil Made Me Do It” case, this is one of the most famous court cases in history, with 19-year-old Arne Cheyenne Johnson seeking to claim that he was innocent of murder because a demon possessed him.
Netflix’s official description of the doc is as follows:
“The Devil on Trial 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.”
The story notably inspired the third entry in Warner Bros. Pictures The Conjuring franchise, which was released in 2021 and starred Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga.
No trailer or first-look pictures have been released for the documentary yet. We’ll update this post once we do.
Who’s behind The Devil on Trial for Netflix?
London-based Christopher Holt is behind the documentary serving as writer and director.
According to Chris Holt’s profile on The Talent Manager and LinkedIn, production on the project took place between October 2021 and May 2023. His profile on LinkedIn describes the documentary as a “High profile – Feature length documentary.”
Picture: BigSmall.tv
Julia Nottingham and Sam Starbuck serve as executive producers on the project, with Amy Lee-Jones as co-executive producer and Hattie Bridges-Webb as producer.
Dorothy Street Pictures is the production company behind the new documentary. They’ve produced a number of gripping documentaries for numerous streamers, including Netflix. Their main Netflix project came earlier in 2023 with the release of Pamela: A Love Story. Elsewhere, they produced ‘Twas the Fight Before Christmas for Apple TV+, Super Eagles ’96 for Prime Video, and Persona for HBO Max.
When will The Devil on Trial be released on Netflix?
The documentary will release globally on Netflix on October 17th, 2023, at 12:01 PST.
For more on what’s coming to Netflix in October 2023, check out our Netflix Original guide for the month here.
Other documentaries still set to release throughout the remainder of 2023 include Stamped from the Beginning, Sly, The Saint of Second Chances, and Netflix’s UEFA Euro 2020 final documentary.
Will you check out The Devil on Trial on Netflix? Let us know in the comments down below.