Devil's Knot (film)
Devil's Knot (film)
Devil's Knot is a 2013 American biographical crime drama directed by Atom Egoyan, adapted from Mara Leveritt's 2002 book of the same name. The movie tells the real story of the West Memphis Three, three teenagers who were convicted of murdering three eight-year-old boys during a period of widespread fear about satanic rituals in the town of West Memphis, Arkansas.
In 1993, three young boys disappear and are found dead, and the community, along with the police, believes the murders were the work of a satanic cult. Three teenagers—Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley Jr.—are arrested after Misskelley confesses following lengthy interrogation. At trial, Baldwin and Misskelley receive life sentences, while Echols is sentenced to death. The trio maintain their innocence. In 2011, after nearly two decades in prison, they are granted a new trial and released after entering an Alford plea, which allows them to still be considered felons.
The film features a high-profile cast, including Colin Firth, Reese Witherspoon, Dane DeHaan, Mireille Enos, Bruce Greenwood, Elias Koteas, Stephen Moyer, Alessandro Nivola, Amy Ryan, and Martin Henderson. The screenplay was written by Paul Harris Boardman and Scott Derrickson, with producers Elizabeth Fowler, Richard Saperstein, Clark Peterson, Christopher Woodrow, and Boardman. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2013, and was released in Canada on January 24, 2014, followed by a U.S. release on May 9, 2014. The film runs 114 minutes and is in English.
Devil's Knot earned about $2 million at the box office. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 26% score from 96 reviews, with critics noting that the film covers familiar fact-based ground that has been explored in documentaries about the case. On Metacritic, it has a score of 42 out of 100, indicating mixed or average reviews.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 15:59 (CET).