The Devil All the Time Review: A Bleak Showcase of Talent For Which There Is No Salvation

Netflix’s The Devil All the Time is triggering, mindless — and boy is it relentless.

The grotesque murders meant to frame this film as a fascinating look at faith and its hold on humanity are nothing but shallow excuses to commit the kind of mindless violence we’ve taken to calling cinema.

If this comes across bitter, it’s because I am bitter. This ensemble is incredible, from Bill Skarsgård to Sebastion Stan to Riley Keough. Each actor goes to great lengths to demonstrate an impeccable understanding of their character’s motives. This cast gives us everything in a convoluted plot that is willing to give us nothing but pointless cruelty.

It’s difficult to swallow, but even stellar performances from Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson are not enough to save this film from buckling under the weight of its own insufferable storytelling.

Branding this bleak monstrosity as an elaborate demonstration of human suffrage does little to hide the fact that this film is a directionless mess.

The Devil All the Time follows the lives of several sinister characters as their actions begin to converge around Arvin Russell, prompting a battle between the just and corrupt to ensue. However, the promise of multiple storylines intersecting across a sprawling and seductive landscape is cut short every time by an eagerness to hack away at the building body count.

The plot is a collage of brutality and murder strung together across a wonky timeline that actively sabotages its own momentum.

Bill Skarsgård commands the first act of this film with his signature brand of terror. But Willard’s choice to kill Arvin’s dog steamrolls any of the groundwork he lays as the audience is forced to wallow in his horrendous act of animal cruelty far longer than necessary.

So much of this film is spent wishing characters would move forwards, only to have them backtrack because a shot of a naked soldier’s mutilated genitals is apparently crucial to a plot point that has already passed.

What is crucial to the plot is a villainous character we can come to both respect and loath. That character comes in the form of Preston Teagardin.

Indeed, even the delusions of a seductive preacher cannot save The Devil All the Time from its diluted idea of humanity — but damn if Pattinson doesn’t give it his best try.

Pattinson’s involvement in this tormented plot is certainly a highlight as he manages to bring this story into sharper focus while dragging us deeper into the darkness. Pattinson’s final bow is a masterpiece as he stands unflinching before Holland’s consuming charisma and demonstrates complete control over his own impending demise.

He’s one of the few faces of this bloated ensemble that manages to make a lasting impression. And while the actor offers no justification for his character’s actions, his sinister showmanship is mesmerizing until the preacher’s last jaded breath.

It’s no secret by now that Pattinson has a wheelhouse and this film puts him smack dab in the middle of it.

Even The Devil All the Time, a film with no restraint, knows not to derail Pattison’s chilling performance further by bothering with the graphic details of a man raping underaged women. The visuals we are shown of his various affairs are enough to get the point across — this man may claim to have God’s grace on his side, but he is a filthy sinner all the same.

The result is a performance worthy of the final nail in Edward Cullen’s coffin, and an accent that will haunt me in my dreams for many weeks to come.

The psychological aspect of this thriller suggests we are given a look inside the minds of the people orchestrating these terrible acts of violence. It suggests that mind games are afoot on the backroads of Ohio and we are none the wiser as to what will come next.

But no such things exist within the confines of this predictable and unbearably persistent plot.

Instead, we are treated to mindless brutality by characters with depth that has yet to be seen even in their death. I am of course talking about Carl and Sandy, who are the most blatant examples of how little this movie cares about making a lasting impression through these volatile characters.

They matter no more to us than their victims despite eating up such a large chunk of this film’s nearly two and half-hour-long run time.

To prove people do horrible things and often without good reason, this film convinces itself that the details are just as arbitrary. Instead, the decision to spend so little time fleshing out these potentially complex characters comes off as downright lazy.

This film’s saving grace comes in the form of our protagonist Arvin, and not a moment too late.

After suffering through far too much tedious setup, Holland makes his entrance and quickly establishes himself as the shoulders for which this heavy content can rest easy.

His soft demeanour and admirable restraint allow the audience some reprieve from the relentless nature of this film. Arvin’s family fueled outbursts give meaning to the more calculated violence present and allows his final standoff with Preacher Preston some much-needed stakes.

Even his run-in with Carl and Sandy feels like thrilling new territory, despite having watched this couple tear through half of Ohio’s male population. Holland has this incredible ability to let the audience be privy to his character’s thought process in real-time. It’s an ability that makes Arvin’s realization that he will have to kill again so much more compelling.

If it wasn’t completely clear to viewers from his time as Marvel’s friendly neighbourhood web-slinger, then it should be now. Holland’s range is just that good.

And if a movie as muddled as The Devil All the Time can’t find a way to make him stumble, then nothing will.

Holland certainly helps guide this film out of the all-consuming darkness and into a more satisfying ending — but he has assistance from a fellow Marvel veteran.

Sebastian Stan’s Bodecker is but a ghost of this ensemble, only appearing when the plot calls for an officer of the law or another meaningless killing spree. Unfortunately, this means Stan, with his almost comical mouth prosthetics and protruding beer belly, does not earn that final boss battle — but he goes for it anyway. 

And thank god he does because the result is a bone-chilling showdown between Bodecker and Arvin that finally manages to buckle down on the thrilling aspects of this haunting gothic tale.

When the credits roll, it’s hard to pin down whether the relief of seeing Arvin escape the clutches of Knockemstiff is because this brutish film somehow managed to connect with its audience, or because our suffering within this bleak showcase of talent is finally over.

One also has to wonder how a film boasting an impressive ensemble could lack such diversity? It is 2020 after all, and all-white casts are slowly becoming outliers onscreen. Then again, would this have only lead to a character of colour being condemned to the same gruesome fate?

It doesn’t excuse the fact that films such as this can do so much for young talent, but make no attempt to be inclusive. A fact made all the more frustrating when the few female roles present in the film are used as vices to compliment their male counterparts.

The Devil All the Time is nothing if not consistent as it drives home themes of faith and corruption at every bitter turn. And the acting isn’t simply subpar — it’s stellar as Pattinson and Holland make an irrefutable case to the academy for consideration.

Yet I can’t help but feel like this film is meant to be a punishment and entertainment, no matter how convoluted, should not feel like a punishment.

In a time where we have been deprived of so much entertainment, The Devil All the Time was meant to be a haunting form of salvation from our own sufferage. Instead, we are subject to the same relentless injustice that has all but consumed this year.

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The Devil All the Time is now streaming on Netflix.

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