The Devil All the Time

Misery in cinema is an interesting line for filmmakers to tread on how they want to use it. Sometimes it can be more on the mindless physical torture side of things with horror flicks such as the Saw franchise or Hostel. Others can lean towards ongoing tragedies in dramas such as downfalls of musicians or athletes as they undergo abusing their drugs and alcohol vices while feeling bad for themselves. What separates the good utilization of it from the bad is whether or not the impact lands effectively for story purposes. In the case of something like Waves (2019), the setup is solid but the execution of that tragedy needed more fine tuning despite the solid acting and directing. This brings us to The Devil All The Time, which was directed by Antonio Campos and based on the novel of the same name. This was released onto Netflix and had a fairly big star cast of actors involved. I wasn't aware of the adaptations premise as I went in blind watching it and after finishing it, this thriller underwhelmed me with one of my pet peeves as it took on this source material. 

What's it about? Taking place in 1950s and 1960s West Virginia (and Ohio), the story follows a chain of connected arcs involving religious fanatics taking extreme actions. It essentially is a Pulp Fiction narrative regarding terrible cycles of awful people who use their beliefs as an excuse to commit bad deeds. As a concept, this can work if investment in the scenarios are built up to where the impact lands effectively. There are some definitely some good moments in there to show that it can live to the potential, with a confrontation scene being the best highlight. It should also be noted that the author of the source material being adapted is actually the narrator here, which is a pretty nice touch.

However, in execution, there are problems that arise with a number of factors as it takes on this novel. There are many arcs being told here with 2 in the 1950s and 3 in the 1960s that don't feel cohesive with each other against the lengthy runtime. There are 2 subplots involving a sadistic couple and a corrupt sheriff that are barely focused on that end up feeling unnecessary. If they were removed, nothing would change about the ending and more opportunities to flesh out other arcs would help (but since it's taking on a source material, it's difficult there). It doesn't help that it's difficult to find investment with the characters since the bloated content skips past them quickly, leaving them feeling as typical archetypes. In addition to that, there's many predictable miserable outcomes that they become boring to watch as it goes along. 

 

How are the actors? In regards to story importance, the actors to focus on are Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson. Tom takes on a refreshingly different role as a gritty individual who's childhood shown in the beginning molds him to how he is, which he gives a pretty good performance. Despite his limited screen time and slightly goofy accent, Robert is engaging to watch as he manages to outdo his despicable acts from Good Time (2018) here as a religious fanatic. Honorable mention goes to Bill Skarsgård for doing the most with his limited screen time in the beginning. Dishonorable mentions Jason Clarke, Sebastian Stan, and Eliza Scanlen due to the former two having to portray the most lackluster characters while the latter is miscast for her bland part.

 

Overall Consensus: The Devil All The Time stumbles in making its concept memorable in a good way due to its bloated story content, beefy runtime, and pacing issues, but has some good moments and mostly solid performances. ⭑⭑⭑1/4 Runtime: 2 hours 18 minutes R

 

Reasons to watch it: You are a fan of the aforementioned actors and/or director Antonio Campos. You have read the novel and are curious to see how it was adapted. You like seeing a string of tragic acts by crazy fanatics upon innocent victims. You are in the mood for shocking violence in disturbing situations. 

 

Reasons to avoid it: You aren't a fan of the aforementioned actors and/or director Antonio Campos. You have read the novel but don't want to see how it was adapted. You dislike seeing a string of tragic acts by crazy fanatics upon innocent victims. You aren't in the mood for shocking violence in disturbing situations. You dislike bloated runtimes with many subplots trying to balance out. You don't want to see female characters mainly written out to be as prey for abusers.