If you are a fan of The Exorcist movies, Netflix’s new horror movie The Redemption should be on your watchlist. It may be hard to believe, but the project is based on real events that happened to a family more than a decade ago. Read on to find out the true story behind The Redemption and find out what happened to Latoya Ammons.

The Redemptionwhich premiered on Netflix on August 30, is directed by Academy Award nominee Lee Daniels (known for Wonderful). The film marks a reunion for Daniels with actresses Andra Day and Mo’Nique, whom he previously directed in Billie Vacation And Wonderful, respectively. The cast also includes Glenn Close, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Caleb McLaughlin and more.

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Daniels said The Hollywood Reporter that he had only heard of Ammons’ story after he WonderfulOnce he did, he “resigned” from the film for various reasons.

“First of all, I felt like I didn’t want to write another story about abuse. This woman was abusing her children — or what defines abuse, because she was hitting the children,” he revealed. “And secondly, I know how I work. I’m an open portal. And I know what I’m asking for. And I know that the spirit is working through me. So what kind of spirits do I want on me? So I just thought, ‘No, I’m not going to do it.'”

Daniels admitted that the story “stuck with him forever.” He continued, “We had never seen this story, through the lens of this African-American woman, on screen before, and I just felt like we live in such dark times, and I don’t think people really know what dark times we live in. And I felt like I needed to get back in touch with my higher power.”

Discover the true story of Latoya Ammons and her account of what she and her family went through below.

Is The Redemption Based on a true story?

Yes, The Redemption is inspired by the true story of Latoya Ammons. In November 2011, Ammons, her mother, and three children moved into a rental house on a quiet street of small, single-story homes in Gary, Indiana.

Ammons and her mother, Rosa Campbell, reported hearing footsteps going up the basement stairs and the creaking sound of the door between the basement and the kitchen opening after midnight. Campbell said she woke up one night to see the shadowy figure of a man walking around in her living room. When she got up to investigate, she discovered large, wet boot prints on the floor.

“This is not normal,” Campbell told The Indianapolis Star in 2014. “We killed them and killed them and killed them, but they kept coming back.”

But that wasn’t the only strange thing happening in the house. In the months that followed, the incidents became worse. Ammons described seeing her children levitate above their beds, being physically “thrown” from the bathroom, being injured by flying objects, and speaking in unnatural, deep voices.

Campbell recalled telling her daughter, “We need help. We need to talk to someone who knows how to deal with this.” Ammons and Campbell contacted local churches, but most refused to listen. According to the Indy starA church official told the family that there were “spirits” in their home and suggested they clean the house with bleach and ammonia and then draw crosses on every door and window with oil.

Ammons also followed the advice of a psychic and set up an altar in her basement. She draped a white sheet over a side table, placed a white candle and statues of Mary, Joseph and Jesus on it, and opened a Bible to Psalm 91. She told the site that she and another person wore white T-shirts and white scarves around their heads as they burned sage and brimstone throughout the house.

Ammons said nothing happened for three days, but then things took a terrifying turn. The family reported that demons had possessed Ammons and her children. The children’s eyes would bulge, evil smiles would appear on their faces, and their voices would deepen during these episodes. (Campbell told the Indy star (that the demons could not influence her, because she was born with protection from evil.)

What happened at the doctor’s?

On April 19, 2012, the family visited their family doctor, Dr. Geoffrey Onyeukwu. Ammons explained to the doctor the terrifying events they were experiencing. Onyeukwu said The Indy Star that the situation was “bizarre,” adding: “Twenty years, and I’ve never heard anything like this in my life. I was scared myself when I walked into the room.”

In his medical notes, Onyeukwu wrote the words “delusions of spirit in house,” “hallucinations,” “history of spirit in house” and “delusions.” During the visit, Campbell said Ammons’ sons cursed Onyeukwu with demonic voices. Medical staff said the younger boy “was picked up and thrown against the wall without anyone touching him,” according to a DCS report.

Someone from the doctor’s office called 911, and seven or eight police officers and multiple ambulances arrived, Onyeukwu said. “Everybody was… they couldn’t figure out exactly what was going on,” he told The Indy Star.

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What happened at Methodist Hospital?

As police and emergency personnel were driving her sons to the Methodist Hospital campus in Gary, someone contacted the Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) to investigate Ammons for possible child abuse or neglect. The unidentified caller suggested that Ammons might have a mental illness and that the children were acting out for their mother.

The case was assigned to DCS family case manager Valerie Washington, who conducted the initial investigation. In her intake officer report, she noted that the hospital had examined Ammons and her children and found them to be sane, while a hospital psychiatrist had concluded that Ammons was “mentally sound.”

As Washington spoke to Ammons, the 7-year-old boy began to growl with his teeth and his eyes rolled back. He closed his hands around his older brother’s throat and refused to let go until the adults pried his hands open.

Later that night, the 7-year-old allegedly told his older brother in a deep voice, “It’s time to die.” “I’m going to kill you.” In a chilling turn of events, the original Washington DCS report states that the 9-year-old had a “strange grin” and backed up a wall toward the ceiling. He flipped over Campbell, landed on his feet and didn’t let go of his grandmother’s hand. Walker, the nurse at the time, confirmed this account.

“He walked up the wall, turned around and stood there,” Walker told The Indy Star. “There’s no way he could have done that.”

When police later asked Washington if the boy had run up the wall as if he was performing an acrobatic trick, she said no. According to a police report, Washington stated that the boy “slid backwards across the floor, wall and ceiling.” DCS eventually took over emergency care of the Ammons’ three children without a court order.

Was there actually an exorcism?

On April 20, 2012, a hospital chaplain contacted the Rev. Michael Maginot, the priest of St. Stephen Martyr Parish in Merrillville, Indiana, to perform an exorcism on Ammons’ 9-year-old son. Maginot performed three major exorcisms on Ammons at his church and blessed her new home in Indianapolis.

Maginot then stated that he was convinced that demons were tormenting the family and that there were ghosts in the house. Campbell and Ammons returned to Carolina Street to have Washington inspect the condition of the house, accompanied by three police officers.

According to police records, one of the officers’ audio recorders was malfunctioning. The power light was blinking to indicate low batteries, even though the officer had installed new batteries earlier in the day. When another officer recorded and later played back the audio, he heard an unknown voice whisper, “Hey,” according to Lake County police records. A photo taken at the home appeared to have a cloudy white image that looked like a face, while a second photo, in green, appeared to depict a female figure.

What happened to Latoya Ammons and her children?

Ammons regained custody of her children in November 2012 after moving to a new home and successfully meeting the goals of the DCS care plan for her family, the Indy starThe DCS’s January 2013 motion to dismiss custody noted that Ammons and her children had “made progress” and were participating in in-home therapy.

The report also said the family “has not had any problems with demonic presence or spirits in their home … in Indianapolis,” and that they “have moved on” from that point in their lives. “The family continues to attend church regularly on Sundays, but the family no longer fixates on religion alone to explain or cope with the children’s behavioral problems.”

Their haunted house was eventually purchased for $35,000, the Courier-Journal reported. The article said the current tenant called police to complain when reporters and photographers showed up, and that she declined offers of money and interview requests.

Where is Latoya Ammons now?

It is unknown what Latoya Ammons and her children are doing now, but The Redemption director said THR he spoke to her during the making of the Netflix film. Daniels said he spoke to Ammons “once or twice” early in the process.

“It’s my interpretation of her life story. I didn’t want to meet her on purpose because I was nervous,” he said. “But I spoke to her… And she’s sweet. She was at peace.”

The director also discussed some of his big changes for Ammons’ story to the big screen. “What I changed a little bit is I made her mom white because I have so many mixed friends and (I wanted to talk about) what it’s like to have a white mom and live in a black girl’s body,” he explained.

“And the liberator was actually a man and not a girl. But there are so many women who do this work too, who are not recognized, so I changed that a little bit, and of course their names and things like that. I really wanted to separate as much as possible, so I could make it my own story.”

Check out the official trailer for The Redemption below.