The Devil All the Time Review

The Devil All the Time is a psychological thriller movie based on the 2011 novel of the same name. The movie is produced by Nine Stories Productions and Bronx Moving Company and distributed by Netflix. The Devil All the Time is written by Antonio Campos and Paulo Campos and directed by Antonio Campos.

The story is a town in Knockemstiff, Ohio is filled with sinister and corrupted people, such as a twisted preacher, a murderous couple, and a crooked sheriff. The only seemly good person is Arvin Russell but even he is violent in his own way. But now Arvin must fight off these evil people in order to protect his family.

Initial Reaction

Now I wasn't really going to review this movie simply because at first nothing seemed interesting. That all changed when I saw the cast. I mean you got Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Bill Skarsgard, and etc. Then the I read the synopsis which again peak me interest, and with all that in mind I decided to give this movie a watch.

Cons

I've got nothing to say. Let's move on.

Middle Ground

The only gray area with the movie is it does feel a little bit bloated. The reason I say that is there's a lot of stories going on in this film, you have the main story with Arvin then you have the murderous couple then the story with a sheriff and so forth. But I was willing to forgive the movie for that because despite it's flaw the story is still good.

Pros

One good thing about The Devil All the Time is the performances, especially from Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson. Tom really showed his acting range by playing the character of Arvin. I wasn't expecting such a great dramatic performance from him. Then there's Pattinson who nailed it playing this disgusting preacher, dude even completely changed his voice to the point where it was unrecognizable. Another thing the movie did right was the narration. Sometimes movies with narration have a problem with the narrator telling us things we already know but here, no. The narrator was there when it felt necessary. I also liked the cinematography. Not only was it good but it also gave you an old timey feel to it. The last thing I'll give The Devil All the Time credit for is the very tense and chilling tone. This flick held nothing back, if it's going to show you something disturbing you're gonna get it.

The Devil All the Time is worth a watch. What with the performances from Holland and Pattinson, a good narrator, good cinematography, and a dark tone. Story's a little bloated but you can forgive the film for that.

My final rating is Good

Okay I'm finally done here. Come back on Monday, Sept 21st for part eight of Looking Back at the Films of 2019. For that post I'll be reviewing Ad Astra and Rambo: Last Blood. Until then enjoy the rest of your day.