Satan Wants You

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1:46

Satan Wants You

2023

1h 29m

Documentary

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

95%

Tomatometer

43 Reviews

68%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Satan Wants You tells the untold story of how the Satanic Panic of the 1980s was ignited by "Michelle Remembers", a lurid memoir by psychiatrist Larry Pazder and his patient Michelle Smith. Supported by the Catholic Church, the bestselling book relied on recovered-memory therapy to uncover Michelle's childhood abduction by baby-stealing Satanists. Amplified by law enforcement and America's Daytime TV boom, satanic rumors spread through panic-stricken communities across the world, leaving a wave of destruction and wrongful convictions in their wake. This film digs deep into the roots of moral panics and cult conspiracies, showing how these events still affect and distort our reality today.

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Critics Consensus

Capturing a media frenzy in shocking, eye-opening fashion, this documentary has its eyes on the truth and a commitment to counter the fearmongering spread by some who believe Satan Wants You.

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Andrea Thompson

Chicago Reader

Sep 15, 2023

As it is, the documentary is an attempt to delve into a mostly unexplored history of a modern witch hunt.

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Barry Hertz

Globe and Mail

Aug 8, 2023

There is a great, big, awful picture that needs to be painted here, but this doc is too preoccupied by the devil in the details of one specific, already overanalyzed case.

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Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

AWFJ.org

Aug 3, 2023

Satan Wants You is an unflinching examination of the endurance of certain fears, and the equally persistent way that those fears can be cynically mined for financial and political gain by a morally bankrupt few who should know better.

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Mike Thorn

In Review Online

Oct 10, 2024

Satan Wants You’s chief achievement is that it understands its subject’s substantial sociopolitical implications and articulates them with economy and power.

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Katelyn Nelson

Daily Grindhouse

Aug 4, 2024

Anyone interested in what makes the wheels of major social panic and hysteria turn will find much to learn from Satan Wants You. Terrifying in its implications and its truths, it even manages to tie in to more current moments.

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Jason Shawhan

Nashville Scene

Nov 22, 2023

It is an infuriating and oddly captivating story that will certainly angry up the blood.

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Farah R.

@Farah Mar 20, 2026

Capturing in detail the raindrop that started the ripple effect of the 80s Satanic Panic, this documentary is insightful and informative. If only it focused less on the personal lives of those involved and more on how it impacted a nation.

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Bruce M

@BruceMc Feb 2, 2026

A surprising objective documentary, at least in the first half, when the story is presented matter-of-factly. Not until the second half are the more problematic issues of the claims discussed, and even then the documentary just glosses over the psychiatrist's ethics, the monetary/profit motive behind the book's publication and the unreliable nature of "repressed" memories. The filmmaker doesn't say "the believers were stupid," but does compare the Satanic Panic to the idiocy that was Pizza-gate. Nice metaphor for Trumpists and Trumpism, though.

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Jason A

@RT66883166 Nov 2, 2025

A great look into how moral panics can easily start and get out of control. Unfortunately, a lot of the satanic panic of the 80's seems to be making a resurgence. Especially in the United States.

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B P

@Bradster69 Jul 11, 2024

Compelling Documentary Chronicles Destructive Roots of Satanic Panic

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Eeva V

@RT08744527 Mar 17, 2024

The topic was interesting. However, the focus was a bit lost and it only managed to scratch the surface of the topic.

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Steve J. Adams

Director

Sean Horlor

Director

Blanche Barton

Self

Sarah Marshall

Self

Debbie Nathan

Self

Elizabeth F. Loftus

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Satan Wants You: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Satan Wants You tells the untold story of how the Satanic Panic of the 1980s was ignited by "Michelle Remembers", a lurid memoir by psychiatrist Larry Pazder and his patient Michelle Smith. Supported by the Catholic Church, the bestselling book relied on recovered-memory therapy to uncover Michelle's childhood abduction by baby-stealing Satanists. Amplified by law enforcement and America's Daytime TV boom, satanic rumors spread through panic-stricken communities across the world, leaving a wave of destruction and wrongful convictions in their wake. This film digs deep into the roots of moral panics and cult conspiracies, showing how these events still affect and distort our reality today.

Director: Steve J. Adams, Sean Horlor
Producer: Michael Grand, Melissa James
Screenwriter: Steve J. Adams, Sean Horlor, Sean Horlor, Steve J. Adams
Distributor: Tubi
Production Co: Game Theory Films
Genre: Documentary, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 20, 2023, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 20, 2023
Runtime: 1h 29m

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