In the documentary Devil’s Playground, Lucy Walker explores deep questions of faith, belief, and individuality.
In terms of visual evidence, we have a great deal to draw on — Walker includes authentic footage of Amish life and so-called “English” life in spades, with some exceptions whose authenticity is shaky.
The majority of the documentary centers around Faron, a young man whose extended rumspringa has gone very, very wrong; involving him in the sale and consumption of controlled substances and, as such, putting him on the wrong side of law.
Given the sensational nature of Faron’s story, it’s understandable why Walker chooses to give him and the visual evidence surrounding his journey the most screen time — after all, a documentary can only reach those who choose to watch it, and Walker does a good job of drawing viewers by juxtaposing the wild, chaotic nature of rumspringa with the quiet, laconic rhythms of ultra-conservative Amish life.
To me, the story of Velda, a young woman who chooses to leave the Amish faith at the cost of being shunned by her family and community, contains the most promise. Though Faron’s story shows one dimension of the issue examined here, I think equal screen time could have been devoted to Velda, whose surrounding visual evidence, though likely less sensational than Faron’s, would have stood out as a measured and mature path away from the Amish faith.