Bavaria, Germany. 1976. 23-year-old ANNELIESE MICHEL has been undergoing a series of exorcisms performed by PASTOR ERNST ALT and FATHER ARNOLD RENZ. To the dismay of her parents ANNA and JOSEF, the exorcisms have all been unsuccessful. At the invitation of Josef, American epilepsy expert DR. LANDERS, along with a small camera crew, have come to the Michel’s home to document her case of “epilepsy.” DR. GRUBER, a German physician, also joins the group. Very quickly, they learn that Anneliese exhibits symptoms far beyond normal epileptic behavior, including growling like an animal and licking her own urine off the floor. Other strange activity happens in and around the house: crows smash themselves against the building, crucifixes and other religious artwork fall off the walls with no prompting. Undeterred, Dr. Gruber insists that there must be a rational explanation—he has the crew set up cameras all over the house to carefully document the activity.