Review of Devil's Knot (2013) by Mark J — 16 Jan 2018

As far as my research tells me, Ron Lax was not a central figure in the West Memphis Three Case. However, he features prominently in Devil's Knot. At first I did not understand why Egoyan wastes valuable screen time on a peripheral character.

But I believe that Egoyan chose to focus on Lax because he refused to participate in the scapegoating of Damien, Jessie, and Jason. Egoyan encourages audiences to assume Lax's point of view, and that point of view which understands how terrible and tragic the act of scapegoating is.

Everyone participated in crucifying Damien and co. Egoyan highlights Lax in order to condemn all those who were complicit in convicting Jessie and co. Lax represents the minority of people who actually stood up for Jason and co and refused to stand idle while three teenagers became victimized by an arbitrary and lazy prosecution, by a bloodthirsty and paranoid community, and by a crime they didn't commit.