Maya Hall
Editor-in-Chief
On Friday, Sep. 11, Netflix released another one of their original movies called The Devil All the Time. It was released to select theaters, then released on Netflix on Wednesday, Sep. 16. In its first two days after being released, it was the most-watched thing on Netflix, and in its overall first five days of being released, it was the third most-watched.
The Devil All the Time features a star-studded cast that includes Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Bill Skarsgård, Sebastion Stan and Mia Wasikowska. Although he is not featured in the movie, one of the film’s producers happens to be Jake Gyllenhaal.
One interesting fact about this film is that it is based on a novel by the same name and the author, Donald Ray Pollock, serves as the movie’s narrator. The film can be described as a psychological thriller that is a period piece since it is set during the time after World War II.
The film centrally follows Arvin Eugene Russell (Holland), who begins to discover corruption and terrible things that bad people throughout his town have done and sets on a course to find out the full of it while wanting to protect his family. It is full of some triggering subjects such as rape, assault, religion issues, murder and suicide.
While watching this film, at first, I thought I was getting too confused with what was going on. But after watching and dwelling on it just for a little bit, I was able to process it more, which I think is a good thing when a film makes you ponder the plot even after watching.
The whole movie had a feeling of uncertainty. I was not sure what Arvin would discover or act upon next while set on his glorifying and righteous type of journey. I wouldn’t say this film was scary, but at times it did make me feel uncomfortable since there were a lot of highly intense scenes and cruel moments (in addition to an unsettling spider scene).
Another thing I would like to note is the acting performances, which I think were great. Holland delivers an unexpected and new performance that he definitely pulls off. Then, we see Pattinson excel on screen as a corrupt reverend, something new for him also.
Overall, I think that The Devil All the Time is a compelling film with an eerie story to tell. After watching I was left with a chilling and uncertain feeling, wanting to understand fully what I had just watched. Because of its complexity and edgy storyline, paired with amazing acting performances, I give this film an 8 out of ten.