The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It and the 1981 Trial

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021) is a supernatural horror film directed by Michael Chaves, with a screenplay by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick from a story by Johnson-McGoldrick and James Wan. It is the third main Conjuring film and the seventh in the Conjuring Universe. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga return as Ed and Lorraine Warren. Ruairi O’Connor, Sarah Catherine Hook and Julian Hilliard co-star. The story draws on the 1981 Connecticut trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, the first American murder case in which demonic possession was claimed as a defense, and on Gerald Brittle’s book The Devil in Connecticut. Delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, it was released on June 4, 2021, in theaters and for a month on HBO Max. It received mixed reviews and grossed $206.4 million on a $39 million budget.

At a glance

Release date	May 26, 2021 (UK); June 4, 2021 (US, theaters and HBO Max)
Director	Michael Chaves
Writers	Screenplay by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick; story by Johnson-McGoldrick and James Wan
Based on	Characters created by Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes
Starring	Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Ruairi O’Connor, Sarah Catherine Hook, Julian Hilliard
Music	Joseph Bishara
Runtime	112 minutes
Rating	R (US): terror, violence and some disturbing images
Budget	$39 million
Box office	$206.4 million worldwide
Franchise	The Conjuring Universe: sequel to The Conjuring (2013) and The Conjuring 2 (2016); followed by The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025)

Plot summary

In 1981 in Brookfield, Connecticut, Ed and Lorraine Warren document the exorcism of eight-year-old David Glatzel (Julian Hilliard). With them are his family, his older sister Debbie (Sarah Catherine Hook), her boyfriend Arne Johnson (Ruairi O’Connor) and Father Gordon. To save the boy, Arne invites the demon into himself instead. Ed sees it happen just as the demon gives him a heart attack. A month later, Ed wakes in the hospital and tells what he saw. By then Arne, hallucinating a demonic attack, has stabbed his landlord to death, 22 times.

Citing a British case in which a defendant was acquitted of murder, the Warrens help make Arne’s trial the first American murder case to claim demonic possession as a defense. They find a witch’s totem in the Glatzel home, the vehicle for a curse. Kastner (John Noble), a former priest who studied the cult of the Disciples of the Ram, tells them an occultist planted it deliberately. A similar totem in Danvers, Massachusetts, links Arne’s case to the murder of a girl stabbed 22 times by her friend, who then died. Lorraine’s visions lead police to the friend’s body and reveal the occultist trying to drive Arne to suicide. Now the occultist knows about the Warrens.

Spoiler section: the occultist

A totem turns up in the Warrens’ own home, and Ed nearly stabs Lorraine before their assistant, Drew, stops him. Kastner admits the occultist is his daughter, Isla, whom he secretly raised despite his vow of celibacy, and who grew obsessed with his occult research. He leads Lorraine to Isla’s altar in the tunnels under his house, where Isla kills him. She then curses Ed into attacking Lorraine and drives Arne to try to kill himself. Lorraine reaches Ed by reminding him of their love, and he smashes the altar, saving Arne. Having failed to complete the curse, Isla is claimed by the demon she summoned. Ed adds her altar cup to the artifact room beside Valak‘s painting and the Annabelle doll. Arne is convicted of manslaughter, serves five years and marries Debbie in prison.

Production and behind the scenes

In 2016 Wan said there “could be many more” Conjuring films “because the Warrens have so many stories.” He also said other commitments might keep him from directing, and that a third film would ideally be set in the 1980s. In May 2017, producer Peter Safran said it would probably not be a haunted house film. In June 2017, The Conjuring 2 co-writer Johnson-McGoldrick was hired to write. In October 2018, Chaves, director of The Curse of La Llorona, was announced as director. Wan praised his “understanding of mood and scares.” Wan told Bloody Disgusting the case was “the first time in America’s history where the defendant used possessions as a reason.”

Filming began in Atlanta on June 3, 2019. Farmiga finished her scenes that August. Reshoots planned for April 2020 were delayed by the pandemic. During them, Chaves cut a demonic villain who had worked with the occultist, played by Davis Osbourne, because it “just wasn’t quite connecting.” He recast Osbourne as an infirmary patient and expanded John Noble’s role. Joseph Bishara, who scored The Conjuring, The Conjuring 2 and several spin-offs, returned as composer.

Release and reception

First set for September 11, 2020, the film was delayed by the pandemic. It opened in the UK on May 26, 2021, and in the US on June 4, released simultaneously on HBO Max for a month as part of Warner Bros.’ 2021 strategy. It opened at No. 1 with $24 million, the second-lowest opening in the Conjuring Universe but the third-best of the pandemic at that point. It earned $65.6 million in the US and Canada and $140.8 million elsewhere. Samba TV reported that 1.6 million US households streamed it over its first three days.

Rotten Tomatoes lists 56% of 253 reviews as positive. Its consensus calls the film “a comedown for the core Conjuring films,” while noting that Farmiga and Wilson “keep the audience invested.” Metacritic scores it 53. CinemaScore audiences gave it a B+, down from the A− of the first two films. Carlos Aguilar of TheWrap called the 1981 opening “the scariest part of the supernatural saga to date.” Owen Gleiberman of Variety called it “the most somber and meditative and least aggressive of the Conjuring films.”

Legacy and influence

It was the first main Conjuring film not directed by Wan. As Safran had predicted, it is not a haunted house film; its story is built around a murder trial. Chaves returned to direct the next main film, The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025), which became the highest-grossing in the series. Before release, Chaves said The Devil Made Me Do It had “a very unique ending to The Conjuring films” that opened a new chapter for the Warrens.

Trivia

It was Sarah Catherine Hook’s feature film debut.
Megan Ashley Brown and Mitchell Hoog play the young Lorraine and Ed.
Wan once floated a werewolf story “like a classic American Werewolf in London style.”
On disc it was titled The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It.