Netflix’s competition with movie theaters continues with the latest original The Devil All the Time. Coming after I’m Thinking of Ending Things and before Enola Holmes, movie fans will be well equipped for good viewings at home in September.
The Devil All the Time stars a lot of familiar faces – Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Bill Skarsgård, Haley Bennett, Sebastian Stan, Jason Clarke, Mia Wasikowska, and so many more. It follows a young man Arvin (Holland) who only wants to protect his family in a postwar backwoods town ripe with corrupt people and actions.
In the first half-hour, the movie drops us in Arvin’s childhood, where his father (Skarsgard) is the focus for a bit. We see him go from family Christian, to war-torn, to postwar family man who wants to continue his Christianity. After several tragedies, we flash forward to Arvin at an older age and another orphan he lives with, Lenora. Several other stories take place as well; a scummy Sheriff (Stan), a couple with a disgusting and lethal photoshoot obsession (Clarke and Wasikowska), and a new Preacher (Pattinson) in town with a sick attraction.
The acting in this movie was fantastic. Early into their roles, I could feel Tom Holland and Sebastian Stan drop their Spider-Man and Bucky demeanor for characters completely different. They display their range incredibly with Holland’s Arvin being the complete opposite of Peter Parker in personality. The standout, though, is Robert Pattinson’s Preston Teagardin. WHAT. A. CHARACTER. He’s a very sinister man who does awful deeds, I don’t want to spoil but you can somewhat make out what I’m saying if you watch the trailer.
Other positives include the cinematography and the awesome soundtrack and score to accompany the movie. It puts you into the mood for something like this. Now what I didn’t quite like was that the story hit some roadblocks. There were moments in the movie that were paced a little too slow and a few moments where I thought it could’ve ended. There’s a particular scene with Arvin and Preston that I thought could’ve been the conclusion of the movie or right before the conclusion. The narrator also explained some characters and details but left out others. It was almost like the narrator was hired part-time. I also would’ve liked a few more adrenaline-inducing scenes; some sequences felt a little flat.
All in all, this is a good Netflix original that l enjoyed, but not my favorite.
Rating: 7/10
Are you planning on watching The Devil All the Time? Check it out when it comes to Netflix September 16th!
Check out the video review