Review: The Devil All The Time

-

 Need Satan? He's here 24/7


Arvin Russell (Tom Holland) is a young man in rural West Virginia. The story starts with his parents (Bill Skarsgard and Haley Bennett) before tragedy strikes and he moves from one small town to another. Now he finds himself at odds with a new preacher in town. (Robert Pattinson) Meanwhile, a pair of serial killers, Sandy and Roy (Riley Keough and Jason Clarke) loom nearby and all these stories eventually connect.

I thought the trailer for this film was wonderful but when reviews started coming out, I set my expectations back. Everyone called it bleak and brutal and while it is those things to an extent, it ended up being a lot tamer than I expected.

This is a actor's film. There's barely any happiness to be seen in this, but it doesn't make it unwatchable because there are so many wonderful performances. Some actors don't get nearly as much screen time as you would hope. (Like Mia Wasikowska) Tom Holland is the standout for me. After being so used to seeing him as Peter Parker and other lighter roles, he shows incredible range playing Arvin, who has the weight of the world on his shoulders. I left this film wishing I could just give his kid a hug. He had excellent chemistry with Eliza Scanlan, who plays his step sister as well. Bill Skarsgard makes the most of his short role as well. The Skarsgard dynasty is something else. And while the tone is overly bleak, don't worry. Robert Pattison is back with another ridiculous over the top accent. It's just like he was in The King. Over and hour of this movie goes by before he shows up and camps it out. It's not meant to be funny, his character is actually quite horrifying, but the execution provides some levity.

The film does have its downside. The point of the film is that everything is connected, but because there are so many different stories being told, inevitably some are more interesting than others. Sebastian Stan plays a corrupt sheriff for example, and he's Sandy's brother. I did not care about any of his "side quests" so to speak, and I'm still legitimately confused about point of one of them. This film uses a narrator who explains some pretty obvious things, but when I actually needed a better explanation, he was nowhere to be found.

Over all, I'm pleasantly surprised with this. It turns out I didn't need to scale back my expectations like I did. 

Recommedned: Yes

Grade: B

Memorable Quote: "Some people are born just to be buried." - Roy (Jason Clarke)

Comments

  1. Often Off TopicSeptember 22, 2020 at 7:43 AM

    Yeah, I wish I didn't pay as much attention to those early reviews as I did, I enjoyed this so much more than I thought I would. Can we have more movies with RPatz camping it up halfway through?!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Candice FrederickSeptember 22, 2020 at 9:09 AM

    yeah... this is pretty much where i'm at with it too. i do think it's bleak and it is an actor's film, but i also think there are some loose ties

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamSeptember 22, 2020 at 11:38 AM

      Definitely, but it's one of the better Netflix films for me. I'd probably watch it again, even with the bleakness.

      Delete
  3. GetterSeptember 22, 2020 at 10:01 AM

    I have a theory why the narration was there but I will give it a go in my own review. Hopefully. Holland was so good. Brought me back to The Impossible .. I remember saying he will go places in my review and look at him now. Going to really dark places!

    Pattinson's scenes made me chuckle.. I don't know if that's bad or good but I can't deny that I was entertained. :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamSeptember 22, 2020 at 11:37 AM

      Nice predictions! He was great in that movie too, that was pretty heavy for someone his age. I can't wait to read your review!

      Delete
  4. thevoid99September 22, 2020 at 3:38 PM

    I know this film is getting mixed reviews but I think the polarizing reaction has made interesting enough for me to check it out. I might watch it next month as part my horror/suspense month. Plus, I like a lot of those actors in that movie.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamSeptember 23, 2020 at 6:44 AM

      It's definitely worth the watch. I hope you enjoy it!

      Delete
  5. KatySeptember 23, 2020 at 4:26 PM

    Nice review! I stepped back from watching it after the reviews, but it's nice to know it's not as brutal as some made it out to be. I'm still mostly going to watch for RPattz though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamSeptember 25, 2020 at 6:40 AM

      It's surprisingly not. I was expecting a lot more gore. It's worth the watch.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by, let's talk movies!
(comments are moderated to reduce spam)

Popular posts from this blog

Random Ramblings: The Radio Flyer Conundrum

-
Image
Recently, I was talking to someone about who I thought were the best child actors when I was also a child.  Two that really stood out to me were Elijah Wood and Joseph Mazello, and one film those two were in together was called Radio Flyer.  Then I was reminded about the uniqueness of this film. Instead of reviewing the film, I wanted to have an open discussion about the ending. It deals with a tough issue; child abuse. What I’ve noticed is the way that the film ends is interpreted many different ways, and the filmmakers never came forward to say what was right and wrong. I’m interested in hearing everyone’s opinions on it. How did you interpret the ending? Obviously spoiler alerts will follow.. For those of you who haven’t seen the film, the basic premise is this: Two young boys, Mikey (Wood) and Bobby (Mazello) move in with their single mother and her boyfriend, who refers to himself as ‘The King’. It doesn’t take long for The King to start physically abusing ...
Read more

Indie Gems: Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

-
Image
Passionate about your profession? I had never heard of this film until it ended up on one of Jason's favorite horror movie lists around Halloween. It immediately sounded interesting to me, so of course I threw it in my Netflix queue. (and if I'm just now watching it after adding it around Halloween, you know how ridiculous my queue is) Taylor (Angela Goethals) is a journalist who, along with a film crew decides to follow around a serial killer named Leslie Vernon. (Nathan Baesel) He plans on doing the typical slasher thing - getting a bunch of drunk teens in an abandoned house and knocking them off one by one. He gets advice from a retired serial killer, Eugene (Scott Wilson) and is threatened by a man who's on to him, Doc Holloran (Robert Englund) Taylor and crew are there capturing it all. Leslie Vernon is fucking hilarious to start with, and clearly very passionate about what he does. He tells Taylor all of his secrets and can barely contain his excitemen...
Read more

My Favorite Movie Youtube Channels

-
Image
Starting around 2018, I started watching Youtube for more than just movie trailers or music videos whenever a new one dropped. Now I'm in full blown subscription mode and don't bat an eyelash at watching a Youtube video that's over an hour long. I watch Youtube for a few different categories of content, but one of them that I love most is movie/TV essays and commentary, and that's what I'm going to talk about today. Below is a list of my favorite movie related Youtube channels. Let me know if you're familiar with them too, or if you have any you'd like to recommend to me.  Double Toasted - I'm honestly surprised this channel isn't bigger. I first came across Korey and Martin when they reviewed War for the Planet of the Apes a few months before it hit theaters and I thought they were hysterical. While their full length videos stream on Twitch, they often upload their movie reviews and commentary on youtube and they're always hilarious. They've...
Read more