May 6, VIFF Centre, 7:30pm | May 12, the Cinematheque, 8:30pm

A deep dive into the origins of the Satanic Panic of the 80s, Satan Wants You shines the spotlight on the bestselling book Michelle Remembers; the result of Michelle Smith and her therapist Lawrence Pazder “recovering” the former’s memories of alleged enslavement by a satanic cult in Victoria. 

The documentary presents the snowball effect of misinformation being accepted as truth by a fearful society, the motives of those spreading conspiracies, and the life-changing consequences that result. While it might be easy to look back now and laugh at the absurdity of baby-eating satanic cults, Satan Wants You offers the frustrating realization that we may not have collectively grown much (if at all) in information literacy in the 40 years since.

Find the Straight's full DOXA 2023 guide here.