Watched the USA's 2023 The Devil on Trial (1:21:31), a dramatized documentary of the case of eleven-year-old David Gatzel, who was allegedly possessed by a devil in 1980 in Brookfield, Connecticut. The story is told by David himself, now of senior age, his mother, his brothers Carl and Alan, his sister Debbie, Debbie's boyfriend Arne Cheyenne Johnson, ghost hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren (of The Amityville Horror fame), the Warrens' grandson Chris McKinnell, a Catholic priest, a Russian Orthodox priest, a Connecticut detective, an attorney for the defense, an attorney for the prosecution, and journalists.
The feature is unusual because it not only portrays possession but also diabolic transmigration, i.e. the transfer of the possessing spirit from its initial host to another person. In an effort to save David, Arne Johnson invites the devil to possess him instead--and the devil does so, resulting, five months later, in Arne's killing his boss and landlord Alan Bono.
The time span of the documentary covers August 1980 - November 1981, when the court serves its verdict on the case. The presentation is balanced, on one hand building a case in favor of possession and on the other presenting adequate skepticism on the unfolding of events--David's father and one of his brothers believe that everything was imaginary, and the fact that the Warrens made thousands off the sensational media hype seemed a dubious move.
Yet another possession story in the slew of possession stories on Netflix and off it.
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