Netflix’s The Devil All The Time – A Tense Yet Overstuffed Thriller (Early Review)

One would not expect during times like these to be graced with a film feature such an impressive cast, let alone one on a streaming service. Nevertheless, Netflix has continued to fill the void by gracing us with The Devil All The Time, the latest star-studded thriller based on the book of the same name by Donald Ray Pollock. Though maybe it’s just a coincidence that the film is coming at this time, along with the trajectory of some of its stars, seeing the likes of Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson just to name a few in the same feature will surely be a draw. It’s just a shame that many of them are squandered here which is understandable.

For those unaware of the source material, The Devil All The Time is a character study full of morally ambiguous characters that takes place in a post-WWII, corrupt, and uber-religious Midwest and focuses on a troubled young man named Arvin Russell (Holland). Growing up surrounded by tragedy and unfortunate circumstances, Russell had a hard life but with the lessons instilled in him by his tough love father Willard (Bill Skarsgård), all he wanted to do was to protect the people he loves. Suffice it to say that this was not easy as he faced plenty of challenges along the way, spawning plenty of tense situations while things definitely were bleak more often than not to say the least.

The Devil All The Time also featured plenty of other side characters and side plots that eventually all fit together with the biggest one of those being the adventures of married couple named Sandy and Carl Henderson (Riley Keough, Jason Clarke) and their questionable pastime while Sandy’s deputy older brother Lee Bodecker (Stan) was left to pick up the pieces. Now it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that one of the biggest problems with the film was that there was simply too much going on. While these parts do eventually find a way to fit together in satisfying ways (some more quickly than others), the jumping around from story to story and in time, occasionally hurts the film’s momentum at times. In essence, it saw characters grappling with their own faith and morality, choosing between what was moral and what was right and that line was certainly a blurry one (some may not have made the best decisions).

In the end, it was Russell who anchored the story and guided is through all the craziness that ensued. His journey and ensuing arc over the course of the film was a compelling one to watch, so much so that it’s easy to have wanted more of him here. The same could be said about the morally questionable Reverend Preston Teagardin (Pattinson) and his criminally short but still memorable contribution to the story, creeping into Russell’s life for better or worse. Meanwhile, The Devil All The Time takes full advantage of its backdrop with some beautiful Gothic cinematography and a great soundtrack though its overdependence on narration does become a little distracting after a while.

Despite a decent script that admittedly fails to go deep enough (people are bad but why are they bad?), the best part of The Devil All The Time was its performances across the board (though the film doesn’t always give them enough to do) with the aforementioned Holland and Pattinson leading the way as Russell and Teagardin respectively. It is safe to say that these roles are a departure from what we are accustomed to from them, perhaps the former more than the latter, however, they both excel. Holland carries the film, drawing us in to his struggle while delivering an understated performance as a young man in pain. Pattinson, however, does the exact opposite with a showy, scene-stealing performance as a flamboyant yet slimy preacher. Viewers will just have to wait a little bit for them to first appear.

At the end of the day, , The Devil All The Time may ultimately succumb to the weight of its narrative but it is still an entertaining watch that won’t be for everyone.

still courtesy of Netflix

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.