The Devil All the Time
The Devil All the Time (film)
| The Devil All the Time | |
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 Official release poster | |
| Directed by | Antonio Campos |
| Produced by |
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| Screenplay by |
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| Based on | The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock |
| Starring | |
| Narrated by | Donald Ray Pollock |
| Music by |
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| Cinematography | Lol Crawley |
| Edited by | Sofía Subercaseaux |
Production company |
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| Distributed by | Netflix |
Release date |
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Running time | 139 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Devil All the Time is a 2020 American psychological thriller directed by Antonio Campos, from a screenplay co-written with his brother Paulo Campos, based on the novel of the same name by Donald Ray Pollock, who also serves as the film's narrator. The cast includes Tom Holland, Harry Melling, Bill Skarsgård, Riley Keough, Jason Clarke, Sebastian Stan, Haley Bennett, Eliza Scanlen, with Mia Wasikowska and Robert Pattinson, whose characters' stories weave together.
The Devil All the Time was released in select theaters on September 11, 2020, and on Netflix on September 16, 2020. It received mixed reviews from critics, but received praise for the performances of Holland and Pattinson.
During World War II, while serving in the Solomon Islands, Marine Willard Russell finds the barely alive Gunnery Sergeant Miller Jones skinned and crucified by Japanese soldiers. Willard ends Jones's agony by shooting him behind the ear. This religious tableau will haunt Willard for the rest of his life.
After the war, on his way home to Coal Creek, West Virginia, Willard passes through Meade, Ohio, where he meets Charlotte, a waitress at a diner. Willard and Charlotte marry and move to Knockemstiff, Ohio, where they have a son who they name Arvin.
In 1950, Helen Hatton marries Roy Laferty, a bizarre charismatic evangelical preacher who pours venomous spiders over his head while giving sermons to demonstrate his faith in God. They have a daughter who they name Lenora. During a sermon, Roy is bitten by a spider on his face and has a severe allergic reaction that affects his grip on reality. Roy believes that he has the ability to resurrect the dead. He takes Helen out in the woods and kills her. He tries to resurrect Helen, but realizing that he can not, he flees to return to his daughter Lenora.
Roy hitchhikes and is picked up by a pair of married serial killers, Carl Henderson and his wife Sandy. Their serial killer fetish ritual involves picking up male hitchhikers, encouraging them to have sex with Sandy while Carl takes photographs, and then murders them. Roy refuses to have sex with Sandy, and Carl shoots and kills him.
In 1957, Charlotte is diagnosed with cancer. Willard believes he can influence God with fervent prayer to remove cancer from his wife's body. He prays to God and sacrifices the family dog, kneeling before a rustic cross he had erected in the woods behind his house. Nevertheless, Charlotte dies and Willard commits suicide. Arvin, now orphaned, goes to live with his grandmother Emma, where he meets Lenora, who becomes his adopted "stepsister".
In 1965, Arvin is given his father's Luger pistol as a birthday present. The church has a new preacher, Reverend Preston Teagarden, who is a narcissist. Preston seduces Lenora and she becomes pregnant. She tells Preston, and he denies her. Not wanting to bring shame to her family, Lenora commits suicide. After the autopsy, Arvin is told that she was pregnant and suspects that Preston was the father. He follows Preston and sees him seduce and rape another girl. At the church, Arvin confronts Preston about Lenora and kills him with the Luger. Arvin flees.
Arvin hitchhikes and is picked up by Carl and Sandy. When Carl starts his serial slayer fetish ritual with Arvin, Arvin defends himself, killing Carl and Sandy with the Luger. In the car's glove box, Arvin finds a collection consisting of several rolls of film. Sandy's brother, Sheriff Lee Bodecker, learns about Sandy's murder, and to protect himself and his coming reelection, goes to Carl and Sandy's apartment, where he finds and destroys Carl's photo collection.
Arvin goes to Meade to visit his childhood home. Lee learns that Arvin murdered Preston. Searching for Arvin, he goes to Meade. They confront each other in the woods at the location of Willard's rustic cross, Lee with a shotgun and Arvin with the Luger. Shots are exchanged, Arvin mortally wounds Lee. Before Lee dies, Arvin confronts Lee with the picture of Sandy with Roy's dead body. Arvin leaves the photo and rolls of film so evidence of Carl and Sandy's serial killing spree can be revealed. Arvin flees.
Arvin hitchhikes and is picked up by a hippie driving a VW van. As he is riding in a car with a stranger, although Arvin is very tired, he tries very hard not to fall asleep. He daydreams and contemplates his future as possibly a husband or as a soldier in the Vietnam War.
Cast[edit]
- Donald Ray Pollock as The Narrator
- Tom Holland as Arvin Eugene Russell, Willard and Charlotte's son. ** Michael Banks Repeta as 9-year-old Arvin Russell
- Bill Skarsgård as Willard Russell, Arvin's father, Charlotte's husband, and Emma's son, haunted by his experience serving in World War II.
- Robert Pattinson as Reverend Preston Teagardin, a charismatic but morally corrupt preacher who rapes and abandons Lenora when she becomes pregnant.
- Sebastian Stan as Sheriff Lee Bodecker, Sandy's brother, a dirty cop who is both protective of his sister and willing to do anything to protect his position.
- Riley Keough as Sandy Henderson,[1] Carl's wife and Lee's younger sister. Unlike her husband, she has no taste for killing and begins to contemplate murdering him.
- Jason Clarke as Carl Henderson,[1] Sandy's husband, a photographer and serial killer who takes pictures of his victims.
- Eliza Scanlen as Lenora Laferty, Arvin's adopted "step sister;" she is Roy and Helen's daughter who was adopted by Emma.
- Ever Eloise Landrum as Young Lenora Laferty
- Haley Bennett as Charlotte Russell,[1] Arvin's mother and Willard's wife
- Mia Wasikowska as Helen Hatton Laferty, Lenora's mother
- Harry Melling as Roy Laferty, Lenora's father
- Kristin Griffith as Emma Russell, Arvin's grandmother, Willard's mother, and Lenora's adoptive mother
- David Atkinson as Earskell, Arvin's great-uncle and Emma's brother
- Pokey LaFarge as Theodore, Roy's younger brother who lost the use of his legs from drinking poisonous substances.
- Douglas Hodge as Leroy Brown, a pimp who keeps Sheriff Bodecker on his payroll. The sheriff murders him and his bodyguard to protect his reelection prospects.
- Drew Starkey as Tommy Matson, one of Lenora's bullies.
- Teddy Cole as The Hippie
Production[edit]
The film was announced in September 2018, with Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Chris Evans and Mia Wasikowska in talks to star. Antonio Campos was set to write and direct the film, with Jake Gyllenhaal serving as producer. In January 2019, Bill Skarsgård and Eliza Scanlen joined the cast, and Netflix was set to distribute the film.[2][3] Sebastian Stan was cast to replace Evans, after scheduling conflicts caused him to drop out and personally recommended Stan for the role.[4] Additionally, Jason Clarke, Riley Keough and Haley Bennett were announced as part of the cast,[5] and in March 2019, Harry Melling also joined.[6] Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans composed the film's score.[7]
Principal photography began on February 19, 2019, in Alabama, with filming locations including Blount County, Anniston, Deatsville, Pell City, Birmingham, and Montevallo.[8][9] Filming completed on April 15, 2019.[10][11]
Release[edit]
The film was released in select theaters on September 11, 2020,[12][13][14] and digitally, on Netflix, on September 16, 2020.[15]
The film was the most-watched on Netflix over its first two days, and third overall in its first five days.[16] In November 2020, Variety reported the film was the 22nd-most watched straight-to-streaming title of 2020 up to that point.[17]
Reception[edit]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 64% based on 196 reviews, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "The Devil All the Time's descent into darkness can be harrowing to the point of punishment, but it's offset by strong work from a stellar cast."[18] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 55 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."[19]
The Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips wrote, "It's easy on the eyes... worth seeing for an intriguingly cast ensemble, authenticating the milieu as much as possible. Holland's terrific, taking in each new setback in [his character's] life without revealing the full extent of the damage."[20]
Ryan Lattanzio of IndieWire gave the film a "C–" and called it "colossal misfire, a sweaty mess from start to finish," although he praised Holland and Pattinson's performances.[21] Owen Gleiberman of Variety said that "it's hard to imagine how a movie with this much sordid crime and violence could be this rote" and wrote "The Devil All the Time shows us a lot of bad behavior, but the movie isn't really interested in what makes the sinners tick. And without that lurid curiosity, it's just a series of Sunday School lessons: a noir that wants to scrub away the darkness."[22]
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