Devil’s Knot

More than 20 years ago, three eight-year-old boys were brutally killed in an Arkansas town. The subsequent arrests, trial and media storm that upended the town is the subject of Devil’s Knot. Reese Witherspoon plays the mother of one of the victims, with Colin Firth as an investigator for the defense. Three teenage boys are arrested for the crime, based on some odd testimony and the boys’ alleged alliance to Satanism.

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Devil’s Knot has some harsh subject matter. Graphic images of the dead kids are cut in the ClearPlayed version, as well as a brief description of the mutilation and some scattered profanity. Even ClearPlayed, the movie will be too unsavory for all but mature teens and above.

To rent or Knot to rent?...

Director Atom Egoyan is no stranger to making movies about community tragedies. But while there are some haunting scenes in Devil’s Knot, the focus is unclear: So much time is spent developing so many characters that we never really get a chance to feel for any of them. Is the movie about pain? Regret? Forensics? Rush to judgment? The film tries to be everything, and ends up being somewhere in between. Perhaps more frustrating for audiences expecting traditional entertainment is that there are no clear-cut answers in Devil’s Knot. You’ll just have more questions.

Marty Nabhan - ClearPlay Witness for the Presentation

Rating Unknown; 114 min; Directed by Atom Egoyan