The Devil All the Time

I don’t know why Americans always have the need to show everyone that Middle West sucks, that its people are stupid, their language unintelligible and moreover that in every village you can meet some kind of religious psychopath who is deprived in some way. To be a cop there must be some kind of punishment and you have to be really stupid to be able to live therewithout losing your marbles. Despite that, The Devil All the Time showing you the devil inside the local people has a good premise with quite a good atmosphere and overall it is quite an interesting movie. If only it wasn’t so long and forceful. From time to time I had a feeling that I’m about to faint regardless the atmosphere. The best part about this movie are the performances of the actors. They really had some fun with that gibberish. (09/29/2020)

Antonio Campos made a western-flavored, Deep South “fuck-up" thriller about the bad things that happen to bad people... and to Tom Holland. McCarthy’s poetic style is slightly undermined by the cynical narrator, who makes astute comments on the outcome of some of the situations, adding details necessary for understanding the humorous charm of the portrait as a whole. Pattinson really savors his role as an ingratiating, oversexed preacher and Jason Clarke was surprising as a porn photographer, but Holland was unusually less prominent, even though he has to deal with the biggest shitstorms and his moral dilemmas are probably the most convincing. Certainly one of the surprises of the year. Spider-Man vs. The Winter Soldier 2:0. (09/19/2020)

This is one of the best things in the "Netflix original production" category in a while, no question about it. Unfortunately, I couldn't shake the feeling at the end that a narrative this ambitious and expansive deserved even stronger performances (I'm thinking especially of Tom Holland, who's not bad, but I just don't believe him) or a slightly more innovative formula. Overall, though, satisfaction prevailed and for the first time in a long time this is a film with a digestible voiceover. (09/20/2020)

Along with Extraction, this is one of Netflix's best offerings when I look at the overall additions from the streaming company for 2020. The Devil All the Time already impressed me in the trailers; I was expecting a bleak experience with a top-notch setting in the southern part of the USA in the 1950s and 60s. For me, the film benefited primarily from two things. The first is surprisingly the narration. I expected boring and shallow chatter that would undermine the story's build-up, but I actually liked this style. The second thing on the list is the exclusive cast. Even the smallest supporting roles are memorable because the entire cast gave more than 100% on set. Add to that the redneck accent, which gave the film extra points. Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Bill Skarsgård, and the sheriff played by Sebastian Stan left an incredible impression on me. The film is wrapped in an unpleasantly negative tone, and you don’t even know who to root for. It’s simply a cocktail full of intrigue, claustrophobic atmosphere, chilling moments, perfectly crafted dialogues (the scene in the church with the priest is an absolute acting high point), and explicit brutality that will resonate with you for a long time. It still won't get a full score from me, as I wanted a slightly more dynamic first half. Nevertheless, it’s a fantastic film. For me, it gets 85%. (10/02/2020)

Perhaps an exceedingly improbable tangle of fucked-up life stories, accompanied by a needlessly frequent and literal voice-over. There are already several important connections between those estimable life stories in the narrative and the constant, all-explaining voice-over robs the viewer of their own thought-provoking consideration. Literal explanations of the characters’ feelings have a place in a book, where we don’t see the characters’ faces. Here it is too much and unnecessary. If, however, you accept this excessively lazy, monotonously flowing narrative, you’re in for a solid drama with a lot of suffering, the ugly fruits of religious fanaticism, slightly cynical use of laid-back period music (which evokes the Coen brothers) and excellent actors. Particularly Jason Clarke and Pattinson excel in their negative supporting roles, which are atypical of them. Paradoxically, I found Tom Holland’s main character to be lacking in expressiveness, which I wouldn’t blame on him as an actor, but on the director. Three and a half stars. (09/18/2020)