Compelling and disturbing the film Devil’s Knot involving a slaying comes to Blu-ray and DVD in a combo pack. The chiller takes you on the fast track in a case involving a crime so heinous that you would think not possible. Based on a true event, the film opens the door to questions without finality. Nicely directed and acted it will turn your head and heighten your fears about the safety of our children.
The fact based story opens in West Memphis, Arkansas in May of 1993, a small town of about 27,000 where most everyone knows each other. Following a day at school 8-year-old Stevie Branch (Jet Jurgensmeyer) asks his mother Pam Hobbs (Reese Witherspoon) if he can ride his bike with a friend before dinner. Pam works evenings to keep up with the bills that she and her new husband Terry (Alessandro Nivola) have accumulated so she’s emphatic that the boy be home before 5 pm.
Her husband arrives around 4:45 and told that Stevie has not returned from his bike ride so the two drive to the most likely places he may be. Without a trace they quickly plead with local officers to search for the boys. It’s only a matter of a couple of days before they find the bodies of Stevie, Christopher Byers (Brandon Spink) and Michael Moore (Paul Boardman Jr.) at the bottom of a muddy creek in the area called Devil’s Den.
Suspects are rounded up including Damien Echols (James Hamrick), Jessie Misskelley (Kristopher Higgins) and Jason Baldwin (Seth Meriwether), three teens that have been linked to Satanism and other witchcraft, who get charged with the murders. Also of interest is a man who wanders into a Bojangles fast food restaurant covered in blood and mud and Chris Morgan (Dane DeHaan) a local troublemaker.
Director Atom Egoyan who is known for his mystery thrillers like Chloe and Where the Truth Lies helms the film. He gets right to the meat of the story and moves it along at a fast pace. Featuring the parents of the children, the trial and an investigator Ron Lax (Colin Firth) he works all the angles showing both sides of the aisle. Keeping the movie at a high level of intrigue and perplexity he delves into the evidence and creates the doubt that leads to a nicely laid out crime thriller.
The acting throughout is even and the characters are realistic enough to create the drama necessary for full development of the actual events. Witherspoon gives her usual professional performance showing the dread and despondence of the mother of Stevie Branch. She also shows the woman’s wavering as the evidence is presented and the doubt that enters the case. Unanswered clues cloud the story and she wants to find out the truth.
Colin Firth does a great job of bringing the investigator who has the gut feeling that something is not right with the arrest of the three teens. He worms his way into the lives of those most close to the killings and brings uncertainty to the trial. While he’s noted for his British accent, he disguises it well bringing a more localized accent to his character.
Devil’s Knot has not been rated by the MPAA, but contains violence, gore and brief nudity. Be cautious when deciding to allow immature children see the film as it does have some scenes that are inappropriate for adolescents.
The Blu-ray disc has special bonus features that are actually very good and add to the true story value.
BONUS FEATURES:
- “The Making of DEVIL’S KNOT” features director Atom Egoyan, Mara Leverit author of ‘Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three”, Reese Witherspoon, Colin Firth and other actors commenting on the film.
- “Getting Into Character: The Cast of Devil’s Knot” has the cast talking about their characters and the contact they had with the actual people they portrayed.
- “Deleted Scenes” has two scenes that were omitted from the film.
The presentation using the Blu-ray is very good and I could find no distortion whatsoever. The format is perfect for 16×9 televisions with its aspect ratio of 1.78:1 that fills the whole screen. The colors were very good and even the night scenes were well lighted. The sound using the DTS-Master Audio 5.1 on the Blu-ray and the Dolby Digital 5.1 on the DVD comes across nicely with dialogue very understandable.
Specifications and additional film information:
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Colin Firth, Stephen Moyer, Dane DeHaan, James Hamrick
Director: Atom Egoyan
MPAA Rating: Not Rated, contains Violence, Brief Nudity
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Running Time: 1 hr 54 min
Video Release Date: 6-10-14
Language: English
Format: Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack
Audio: Blu-ray DTS-MA 5.1, DVD- Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: Full 16×9 Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Number of Discs: 2 Discs
Distributed by: RLJ Entertainment
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
