★★★½
Far from flawless, ‘The Devil All the Time’ still manages to stand out thanks to a stellar cast, beautiful visuals, and an engaging story.
The film follows the interconnected lives of a war veteran and his son, a pair of serial killers, a preacher, and the sheriff of the small town of Knockemstiff, Ohio.
I was most skeptical of the cast going into this film, but I’m glad to say I was very wrong. In fact, there’s a strong argument to be made that Antonio Campos’s latest wouldn’t quite work as well without it. As for the quality of the film itself, I have a pretty mixed view of it. I haven’t read the original novel from which this is based, so it could be a flaw of the source material. But I often found the events of the film to be quite unbelievable to the point of ridiculousness. For a movie that seems to take itself far too seriously, a dose of realness could have been a real asset to Campos’s script.
Still, there’s an outstanding achievement made behind-the-scenes, in my opinion, and that is Lol Crawley’s incredibly gorgeous visuals on film. He instantly elevates the movie as one of the most stunning-looking pieces of entertainment of the year. It perfectly matches the tone the film was going for.
Tom Holland is excellent as the lead character, with a subtle yet captivating performance that spells a bright future for the young star. As for the rest of the cast, Robert Pattinson chews the scenery with a lot of charisma and an unforgettable monologue near the end. Bill Skarsgard also shines in his much more minimal role.
In short, I found ‘The Devil All the Time’ to be an enjoyable and gorgeous-looking film that, while in need of some obvious script fixes, will most likely please anyone looking for a good movie on Netflix.
FILMAHOLIC 