Movies
[BD Review] West Memphis Three Drama ‘Devil’s Knot’ Is Completely Unnecessary
The entire case against them was based on a forced confession, and their love of horror movies, Slayer, and Stephen King. Their story resonated with a lot of people all over the world. Anyone who’s ever been called a “freak” or any other misguided insult because of their taste in music, movies, and clothes could relate to them. Especially Echols, their supposed ring leader who allegedly coerced them into committing human sacrifice. He always seemed a little too smart for his own good. In the courtroom, he showed surprising defiance in the face of authority, even with his life on the line.
The 20 years of injustice wrought upon these three men was extensively chronicled in the Paradise Lost trilogy of documentaries – three compelling films that kept Echols, Baldwin, and Misskelley in the public consciousness and, according to some, had a lot to do with their release in August 2011. In 2012, a comprehensive documentary called West of Memphis was released, which covered everything from the initial trial to their release following a controversial “Alford Plea.”
Those four films covered every angle of the case through its two decade history, so is there any need for a dramatization of it? Atom Egoyan’s Devil’s Knot attempts to argues that there is, but the film provides no new insight or weight to the saga of the West Memphis 3. There’s just no reason this film should exist.
Devil’s Knot features a cast of big names, including Reese Witherspoon and Colin Firth, but wastes their talents on what can be considered a standard courtroom drama. It has the vibe of a television movie and does a lackluster job capturing the hysteria that consumed that small town of fanatics. The four documentaries do a far better job evoking the drama and frustration of the trial while exhaustively covering the angles. Devil’s Knot fails to do pretty much anything except cover ground already combed before. The various trials and appeals of the West Memphis 3 is one of the most vexing and obscene cases of injustices in recent history, yet none of this is captured in Egoyan’s film.
Even viewed as a primer on the West Memphis 3 for folks who aren’t familiar with the case, Devil’s Knot works poorly. When instances of “lost” evidence and flawed witnesses appear, they feel very haphazard and may be confusing for the unacquainted. For example, the information concerning the woman who made a deal with the cops if she’d have her son deliver a false confession was a major blemish during the first trial, but here it’s presented in a manner out of step with the rest of the film.
The bits of fiction thrown in for emotional effect are cheap and laughable. In one scene, Witherspoon, who plays Pam Hobbs, the mother of one of the murdered boys, is hugged by a group of schoolchildren. Gimme a break. Firth plays a legal aide attempting to clear the teens’ names and while his character lacks depth, we are told by his ex-wife that “he becomes obsessed with his cases” and that he has to defend them because “no one else will.” It’s some of the most cliche lawyer “characterizations” ever.
It’s a damn shame the cast isn’t given some ripe material to work with, especially the supporting cast that boasts the likes of Elias Koteas and Bruce Greenwood. The mighty Kevin Durand (Lost) is perfectly cast as John Mark Byers, the bible thumping looney tune who gifted a knife to the Paradise Lost documentary crew. So what if there was some human blood on the knife, he doesn’t know how it got there!
Devil’s Knot is simply an unnecessary movie that rehashes material that’s been extensively covered before in films, books, and television. It closes on title cards that explain the direction the appeals and investigation went in after the initial trial, teasing the audience with material far more interesting then what they just sat through.
Despite Devil’s Knot being completely useless, it does reinforce the saddest thing about the whole saga: the real killer is still out there.
Ghostface is back on the big screen this weekend… well, sort of… with the release of Scary Movie, which marks the Wayans brothers’ return to the horror spoof franchise for the first time since Scary Movie 2 back in the day. It’s likely to be the talk of the horror community for the weekend, but don’t overlook the other six genre movies that were freshly unleashed today.
Here’s all the new horror that released on Friday, June 5, 2026.
The horror spoof franchise is back with Scary Movie now playing in theaters!
Marlon Wayans (“Shorty”), Shawn Wayans (“Ray”), Anna Faris (“Cindy”), and Regina Hall (“Brenda”) reunite for the new Scary Movie, with the cast also including Dave Sheridan, Lochlyn Munro, Cheri Oteri, Chris Elliott, Jon Abrahams, Damon Wayans Jr., Gregg Wayans, Kim Wayans, Benny Zielke, Cameron Scott Roberts, Heidi Gardner, Olivia Rose Keegan, Ruby Snowber, Savannah Lee Nassif, Sydney Park, and Felissa Rose.
Twenty-six years after outrunning a suspiciously familiar masked killer (“Ghostface”), the Core Four are back in the killer’s crosshairs and no horror movie IP is safe…
Scary Movie will slash through reboots, remakes, requels, prequels, sequels, spin-offs, elevated horror, origin stories, anything with the word legacy in it, and every “final chapter” that absolutely isn’t. A whole lot has changed in the horror genre since the Wayans Brothers were in charge of the franchise; their involvement ended with Scary Movie 2 back in 2001!
Michael Tiddes (A Haunted House) directs Scary Movie 6 from a script written by Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, original Scary Movie director Keenen Ivory Wayans, Craig Wayans (Scary Movie 2), and Rick Alvarez (A Haunted House).
From IFC, shark attack movie Chum is now available on Digital.
Alice Eve (Haunting of Queen Mary) stars in shark attack movie alongside Eric Michael Cole, Jim Klock, Elle Haymond, Lisa Yaro, Johnny Gaffney, and Sarah Siadat.
This one sounds very similar to last year’s Dangerous Animals…
Here’s the plot: “A newlywed couple joins friends on a Mediterranean yacht excursion, only to find themselves caught between a predatory shark and a psychopathic killer in their midst-transforming a sun-drenched escape into a fight for survival.”
Jonathan Zuck directs Chum, from a script by Jonathan Zuck and Joe Leone.
Samara Weaving (Ready or Not 2: Here I Come) and Kyle Gallner (Strange Darling) come together in Carolina Caroline, a sexy crime thriller now playing in theaters.
It’s not a horror movie, mind you, but it’s worth a mention here all the same.
Kyra Sedgwick (Family Movie) and Jon Gries also star in the romantic crime thriller.
Director Adam Carter Rehmeier’s film stars Samara Weaving as Caroline Daniels, whose desire to leave her small Texas town brings her into the orbit of a charismatic con man (Kyle Gallner), and together they weave a path of crime and passion across the American Southeast.
Adam Rehmeier previously directed the films Dinner in America and Snack Shack.
Tom Dean wrote the screenplay for Carolina Caroline.
Similar to Steven Spielberg’s upcoming big screen blockbuster Disclosure Day, Signal One explores humankind’s enduring question: what if we aren’t alone in the universe?
The sci-fi thriller is now available on Digital.
Isabelle Fuhrman (Orphan), Josh Hutcherson (Five Nights at Freddy’s), David Thewlis (Harry Potter), Raoul Bhaneja (Possessor), Emma Ho (“The Expanse”), and Dennis Quaid (The Substance) star in Signal One from director Jonathan Sobol (The Art of the Steal).
When tech billionaire Sam Houston (Quaid) hires the brilliant computer scientist Annika (Fuhrman), she ventures to an isolated facility run by the brilliant, nihilistic creator of LITTLEMOUTH, a machine which can communicate with alien intelligence.
Annika soon learns some humanity-altering facts: that we are not alone in the universe, that alien intelligences are communicating around us at every moment, and that we are likely too primitive to even remotely understand what they are trying to tell us.
When the goal of the endeavor shifts from listening to talking back, the project rapidly devolves into chaos. With contact comes consequences, and soon Annika and the team must work to ensure the very survival of our species.
A schoolyard dare becomes an urban legend in the creepypasta-inspired horror anthology The Summoning. The indie film is now available on Digital from Brainstorm Media.
“A babysitting gig becomes a nightmare of urban legend when three teens summon Baby Blue. Survival depends on uncovering the past to escape a mother’s wrath from beyond the grave.”
Felipe Vargas (Rosario, Hive), Sergio Gonzalez, Brandon Piskorik, Corey Benson Powers, and Brian Sepanzyk direct the segments. Valeria San Martín, Justina Ceballos, Daniela Flombaum, Nannu Spannauss, Agustín Olcese, and Giovanni Onetti star.
The Summoning is written by Camilo Zaffora.
Happy Death Day actress Jessica Rothe stars as a mom struggling to keep her grip on her sanity and memory in the mind-bending Affection, now available on Digital at home.
In Affection, “Afflicted by a mysterious condition that resets her memory, Ellie becomes trapped in a cyclical nightmare with a man who claims to be her husband. She soon must uncover the horrifying truth of her existence—before she forgets it all again.“
Joseph Cross (“Big Little Lies”) and Julianna Layne (“Chicago P.D.”) also star in the sci-fi horror thriller. Affection marks the feature debut by writer/director BT Meza.
Daniel Kurland wrote in his review out of the film’s premiere, “Affection is steeped in existential questions and fears that plague modern society, while it embraces the ethos of the ’80s through bold body horror. Add to that Rothe’s revelatory performance, and Affection is a hidden gem that will connect with your mind, body, and soul.”
Lucile Hadžihalilović’s latest dark fairy tale, The Ice Tower, loosely reimagines Hans Christian Andersen’s fable “The Snow Queen,” and it’s now streaming on Shudder.
In the ’70s set film, “Jeanne, a 15-year-old orphan, witnesses the shoot of a film adaptation of the fairy tale The Snow Queen, and she becomes fascinated by its star Cristina (Marion Cotillard), an actress who is just as mysterious and alluring as the Queen she is playing.“
Clara Pacini stars as Jeanne. August Diehl and Marine Gesbert also star in The Ice Tower, and look for a cameo from director Gaspar Noé (Climax, Irréversible).
“For me, The Ice Tower solidified Lucile Hadžihalilović’s place amongst the most fascinating creators of fairy tales today,” said distributor Yellow Veil Pictures co-founder Joe Yanick.
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