Critics have suggested that, with three or four documentaries on the case already out there, Devil’s Knot didn’t need to be made. Says Egoyan, “Journalists forget people haven’t seen the documentaries and don’t need the documentaries. … For people who don’t know the case, it’s a powerful experience. And it’s a huge risk dramatically, using a huge number of genres to tell the story – murder mystery, courtroom drama, procedural … It’s all over the map.”