Emily Deschanel outruns a cult in Netflix thriller ‘Devil in Ohio’

Emily Deschanel knows her character crosses an ethical line in “Devil in Ohio.” But savior complexes supersede everything else.

In “Devil in Ohio,” premiering Friday on Netflix, the “Bones” alum stars as Dr. Suzanne Mathis, a psychiatrist focusing on trauma who finds herself drawn to a strange, quiet girl, Mae (Madeleine Arthur), in the hospital with a pentagram carved into her back. Eventually, the girl’s story unfolds: she has escaped from a cult, running for her life.

With a white knight syndrome and no other solutions, Suzanne takes her into her own home, uprooting her life and that of her family.

“You have a character like Suzanne who has a responsibility to care for her patients, like Mae. Clearly Mae needs a lot more than an average patient; she’s dealing with a lot of trauma and we don’t really know what’s going on with her in the beginning,” Deschanel, the 45-year-old actress best known for playing the uptight Dr. Temperance Brennan on “Bones,” told the Daily News.

“How much do we owe Mae and how much responsibility does Suzanne have to take for her? She certainly takes it on but she probably doesn’t need to do that and probably would be better if she didn’t. It’s really frowned upon to do something like that, to take a patient into your home as a doctor. But she does it!”

Bonded to Mae by her own trauma, Suzanne ignores everything and everyone telling her not to get wrapped up in this twisted web of cults and runaways.

“She feels the responsibility to her,” Deschanel said. “I think that she can’t help herself.”

Mae makes herself at home in the Mathis residence, as skittish as she is. For Arthur, it was about replacing the ties she had broken when she fled the cult.

“Trying to be OK with leaving them is something that constantly comes back [up]; how much of her cult wiring and programming is still in her with that set of morals and values she grew up with? They really rely on each other in that community,” the 25-year-old Canadian actress, who played best friend Christine in the “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” trilogy, told The News.

“And then within the Mathis family, Mae wants to have responsibility. She wants to have purpose in that family. She wants to do the best she can. She wants to help, she wants to cook dinner, she wants to fix clothes.”

Helpful, sure, but Mae’s presence isn’t just another mouth to feed and a stranger in the living room. The cult isn’t letting her go that easily.

Suzanne never hesitates though, Deschanel said. She’ll do anything to protect Mae, even as her husband and daughters drift farther out of her field of vision – and even as she crosses every ethical boundary between doctor and patient.

The actress can see where the lines are being crossed. Suzanne, carrying her own childhood baggage, only sees a strange, quiet girl who needs saving. Her tunnel vision guides her. Both Deschanel and Arthur said they understand that compulsion.

“They both deal with trauma in their lives and yes, there are differences but there are a lot of parallels and I think that’s why they’re drawn to each other and why Suzanne feels the need to save Mae in whatever way she can and protect her and keep her safe,” Deschanel told The News.

“She’s not even aware of some of her subconscious impulses and drives that are controlling her in that way.”