Image provided by Netflix
The Devil All The Time was one of the most intriguing films of the year. I first heard about this movie at the beginning of 2019 and was intrigued not only by the cast but I have a soft spot for psychological thrillers. I won't spoil The Devil All The Time but I will give a brief synopsis of what it is about. The film stars Tom Holland as Arvin Russell who finds himself entangled in a state full of liars and sinners and must find his way around all of it. That is pretty much as vague as I can be about the film but I recommend this movie as a must see. As such, I thoroughly enjoyed this film. Although it by no means is perfect and some things are just too much and unnecessary I couldn't help but be impressed by this film. A real quick disclaimer though: This film will not be for everyone (more on that later.)
Lets start with the positives. For starters, Tom Holland is excellent in this film. Holland not only gives a impressive performance in the film, but he also is able to emit an emotion to his character that you can't help but empathize with. If your worried that your going to be seeing Spider-man the whole time, throw that concern away. The other performances are solid as well. The most divisive performance I can see audiences having is with Robert Pattinson. His character has a very particular accent to him that you'll either be on board with or totally hate. The thing I loved the most about this film was the state of suspense it makes you feel with particular scenes and situations. The film doesn't rely on increasingly loud music to make you feel anxious or help you realize something is about to happen. The film is smart and crafty in giving you the feeling of suspense and having you sit with it for a little bit. Another thing I found that really benefited the film was the little pieces of information the film gives the audience throughout. The movie has multiple story lines that all revolve around Arvin and it takes most of the run time to fully get through each story line.
As much as I enjoyed this movie, it isn't flawless and it definitely has issues. The biggest for me was the runtime of the movie. It comes in at a long 2 hours and 18 minutes. While I loved this film, it definitely is too long. I think you could shave a solid 15-20 minutes off the movie and have the same effect. The film is also a slow burn until the last 45 minutes and at times it drags. This goes with the runtime and my feeling on it being too long. Another negative for me was some of the motives a few characters had. While I enjoyed Jason Clarke's performance I couldn't help but scratch my head at a few of his decisions as well as why he was doing what he was doing. It's not fully explained what his character does until the end of the movie but for 2 hours his character is very frustrating to understand. The last thing isn't a negative per say but more of a disclaimer. The film is graphic in the sense it doesn't hold back. Tragedy is one of the main themes of the film and every character experiences it. Real life circumstances/situations happen to a few characters that might be to raw/real for some audience members.
With that being said, The Devil All The Time is one of my favorite movies I have seen this year. I didn't expect to love it as much as I did. I found this film to be enthralling and while it is by no means perfect and too long, this is a movie that is a must watch in my opinion.
Grade: A-