The Devil's Candy (2017) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Ray kills his mother because he is already possessed by a demonic entity that has been tormenting him with unsettling voices. When his mother enters the room and demands he return to the mental institution, her disapproval of his guitar playing triggers an explosive rage. The demon influences him to commit violence against her, marking the first act of his murderous path. This establishes Ray as a vessel for evil and explains why he later becomes the primary antagonist targeting the Hellman family.

Foreshadowing: The opening scene establishes Ray's possession and violent tendencies, which later manifest when he returns to target Zooey.

• ray smilie
• mother murder
• demonic possession
• violence

Jesse begins hearing the same eerie voices that once haunted Ray because the demonic entity that possessed Ray is tied to the house itself. This supernatural presence chooses Jesse as its new vessel, fueling his artistic creativity with dark inspiration. The entity draws Jesse into the same psychological unraveling Ray experienced, making him paint increasingly disturbing imagery. This connection is central to the film's theme of the house acting as a conduit for evil, passing from one occupant to another.

Foreshadowing: Jesse's first supernatural experience occurs immediately upon moving in, mirroring Ray's earlier torment.

• jesse hellman
• ray smilie
• house connection
• demonic voices
• supernatural

Jesse's artistic transformation occurs because the demonic presence in the house is channeling its influence through him. The eerie voices he hears ignite a creative fire, but the inspiration is tainted, the entity fuels his paintings with dark visions of suffering children and inverted crosses. This reflects the film's exploration of how evil can corrupt creativity. Jesse becomes aware that his art is being used as a conduit for something sinister when he incorporates real victims, like the boy Ray murdered, into his paintings.

Foreshadowing: His early painting of an inverted cross foreshadows the full demonic descent his art will take.

• jesse painting
• demonic art
• inverted cross
• artistic obsession
• creativity

Ray targets Zooey because his demonic possession drives him to repeat his pattern of murdering children, which was the source of his dark power. Zooey represents his ideal victim, she is young, vulnerable, and living in the house that connects to his original crimes. Additionally, Ray's interest in reconnecting with the family, demonstrated by his earlier visit and leaving his guitar on the porch, reveals his twisted desire to establish a relationship with Zooey before harming her. His whispered confessions in her bedroom show his possessive intent.

Foreshadowing: Ray's earlier exchange with Zooey about the guitar establishes his interest in her before the direct attack.

• ray
• zooey
• child targeting
• abduction
• demonic motive

Ray became possessed through his intense devotion to dark spiritual forces, evidenced by his extreme devotional tapes praising the Devil that he listens to in the motel. The house itself appears to be a nexus for demonic activity, and Ray's obsessive musical practice and occult interests made him susceptible to possession. The entity feeds on violence and child murder, which became Ray's twisted purpose. His possession represents a corrupting bargain, creative power in exchange for serving evil.

Foreshadowing: The opening scene shows Ray confronting an unsettling voice, indicating possession began before the timeline shown.

• ray possession
• demon
• devil worship
• entity
• spiritual corruption

Ray abducted and murdered multiple children, dismembering their bodies and burying the pieces in a hidden hole in the yard alongside the remains of his previous victims. When Jesse discovers the suitcases containing the children's bodies at the end, it confirms the full horror of Ray's crimes. The discovery represents the culmination of the evil Jesse has been battling, the physical evidence of the murders that the demonic presence inspired. This revelation traumatizes Jesse and underscores the film's themes of inherited evil.

Foreshadowing: Jesse's disturbing painting of children's heads being consumed foreshadows the actual buried victims.

• children
• buried bodies
• ray murders
• yard discovery
• victims

The house acts as a cursed location that draws demonic entities, likely due to the violent history and dark rituals that occurred there. Ray was possessed while living in this house, and the demonic presence remained after his departure, waiting for new occupants. The property passed to the Hellmans through a deceptive real estate agent who lied about the previous tenant's death. The house functions as a vessel for evil, selecting susceptible individuals like Ray and later Jesse to channel its power.

Foreshadowing: The real estate agent's suspicious story about the previous tenant hints at the house's dark history.

• cursed house
• demonic house
• texas home
• evil location
• property

Jesse destroys his mural to break free from the demonic influence controlling him. He realizes his art has become a conduit for evil, incorporating real victims and even depicting his own daughter in hellish imagery. When Astrid pleads with him to stop, he acknowledges hearing the cries of children within him, a sign the demon is using him. Destroying the mural represents a conscious rejection of the darkness, though the demon's hold proves difficult to fully sever.

Foreshadowing: The progressive corruption of his art, from the inverted cross to depicting Zooey, foreshadows the need for this breaking point.

• mural destruction
• jesse breaks free
• artistic rejection
• demon influence
• self-sacrifice

Jesse defeats Ray by using his own guitar, a reference to Ray's red Flying V, against him during the violent home invasion. When Ray enters the house after killing the police guards, Jesse fights him in a desperate struggle and manages to send Ray into the flames of the fire that has engulfed parts of the house. The guitar becomes a weapon of salvation rather than a tool of darkness, turning the very instrument associated with Ray's evil against him. Jesse then rescues Zooey from the inferno, completing his transformation from artist to protector.

Foreshadowing: Ray's guitar left on the porch earlier, and Jesse's refusal to let Zooey claim it, foreshadow its role in the final confrontation.

• final battle
• jesse vs ray
• fire
• guitar weapon
• defeat ray

The red Flying V guitar symbolizes the conduit of demonic influence that connects Ray to the evil entity. Ray uses it to defy the unsettling presence in the opening scene, playing defiantly in front of the crucifix. After Ray leaves, the guitar appears on the Hellmans' porch, representing the transfer of dark energy to the new occupants. Jesse ultimately uses a guitar, possibly his own or Ray's, to defeat Ray, turning the symbol of darkness into a tool of redemption.

Foreshadowing: Zooey's expression of fondness for the guitar when she meets Ray establishes its symbolic importance.

• flying v guitar
• red guitar
• ray guitar
• musical symbol
• demonic tool

Belial represents the worldly art world's appetite for dark, disturbing work, which inadvertently encourages Jesse's demonic-fueled creations. When Belial shows interest in Jesse's haunting black-and-white painting, it validates Jesse's descent into dark artistry. However, Belial is ultimately a human figure, not a supernatural entity, serving as a mirror to how society can enable destructive creativity without understanding its true origins.

Foreshadowing: Belial's positive reception of Jesse's early dark art foreshadows the corruption to come.

• belial
• art gallery
• art dealer
• jesse career
• dark art world

The police guards stationed outside the Hellman home are brutally killed by Ray when he returns for his final assault. After eliminating the officers, Ray takes their weapons, arming himself for the home invasion. This moment demonstrates Ray's ruthlessness and the failure of conventional protection against a supernaturally-powered killer. It also removes any external help the Hellmans might have received, forcing Jesse to confront Ray alone.

Foreshadowing: The police station scene establishes that Ray is a known dangerous fugitive with a history of child murder.

• police guards
• ray kills
• home invasion
• weapons
• protection failure