Sometimes, a good thriller is just the thing people need to take their mind off of matters such as homework and drawn-out presidential elections. At the very least, it might leave us feeling grateful that we don’t share the film protagonists’ experience. “The Devil All the Time” certainly fits the bill. This movie held my attention absolutely for two hours and 18 minutes, which is no small feat. At the same time, I wouldn’t call it a pleasant viewing experience. Make no mistake, this is an incredibly dark film. Things get pretty heavy, and violence is prevalent throughout the movie. The intense content might leave some viewers feeling more troubled than before. I advise watching with a trusted friend, relative, or pet rather than alone, and in general, know your limits. With all of that being said, “The Devil All the Time” should go down in the history books as “terrible, but great” (as Ollivander the Wandmaker would say).
This motion picture features some unforgettable actor performances. Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson especially shine in their roles, although Spiderman and Twilight fans may not get what they expect. Holland plays a young man named Arvin who has a tender love for his family along with a heightened distrust for pretty much anyone else. Pattinson plays Reverend Teagarden, another charismatic but slightly unsettling preacher (strangely, there are two in this film) who steps in to lead Arvin’s local church. The two men never pretend to have much love for each other, and Arvin’s confrontation of the preacher in an empty sanctuary marks one of the most tense scenes in the film, due in part to the grit and intensity that both actors bring to it.
The story is intriguing and ambitious in scope, spanning across several decades of living and about ten hours of driving. Most of the plot takes place either in Knockemstiff, Ohio, in Coal Creek, W.Va., or on the road between. Arvin and Teagarden are just two out of eight or so main characters, including a World War II vet with PTSD, a photographer with a soft spot for hitchhikers, a disenchanted model, a corrupt sheriff, and more, all of whose tales interweave between two tiny towns in America’s heartland. Honestly, this could have been expanded into a TV series, but the movie still seems to cover its multitude of moving parts pretty well. Those who don’t mind slightly crowded plotlines will find the narrative super compelling. Prepare to be in suspense for the entire time. Also, it’s based on a book by Donald Ray Pollock, who actually narrates much of the movie, so that’s cool.
I was struck by how this movie handled the theme of violence. It doesn’t come across as a pacifist film by any means, but it also doesn’t tiptoe around the lasting effects of violent choices. Most if not all of the characters have been strongly shaped by violent trauma in their pasts, and its impact often proves to be sweeping and generational. Some characters use religion as an instrument to inflict deeper emotional or even physical violence on others. There are many instances in the movie where justifications like “I had no choice” or “they weren’t good people” are offered, including one especially memorable scene where a newly orphaned child is told that “some people were born just so they could be buried.” But is that the message the movie is actually trying to send? I don’t think so. The context of the scenes where these statements occur don’t seem to paint such a clean picture of so-called redemptive violence.
“The Devil All the Time” is now streaming on Netflix.
