414. The Devil All The Time; movie review

 

THE DEVIL ALL THE TIME

Cert 18

138 mins

BBFC advice: Contains sexual violence, injury detail, nudity, violence

The end of year non-party is nearly upon us so I am taking in the must-see movies which I have missed out on during 2020.

The new Academy Award rules have made the everyfilm quest more complicated because it requires me to plunder Netflix for potential nominees.

But this seems fair enough in a year when the vast majority of films I have seen have been via on-demand services anyway.

And it means that I am sweeping up some of the best pictures including The Devil All The Time.

This is my sort of film. Intense, unusual, with great performances and a storyline which ebbs and flows and keeps the audience guessing until its very end.

Antonio Campos's movie stars Bill Skarsgård as a Second World War veteran who falls in love on his first day home.

The horrors of war had taken him away from his religious teachings but on his return he finds God.

This is important because the key thread throughout the movie's many different tangents is zealous, corrupt religion.

His own warped view of it sees him believing that his Lord will deliver him answers to potentially seismic changes to his life.

The action then moves on a fair few years when his son (Tom Holland) is a teenager and lives with his grandmother (Kristin Griffith) and adopted, ultra-religious sister (Eliza Scanlen).

Their lives are changed when a new very vocal priest (Robert Pattinson) arrives in town.

Meanwhile, separately, another religious enthusiast (Jason Clarke) is trawling the country looking for 'models' he can photograph having sex with his wife (Riley Keough) before he kills them.

And there is the dodgy sheriff (Sebastian Stan) who seems to appear at all of the most intense moments.

Part of the excellence of The Devil All The Time is the manner in which it is presented through the treacly narration of Donald Ray Pollock.

It gives it an air of The Shawshank Redemption and while it is not quite in its league, it isn't that far off.

There is a constant threat in the air but I shall not write more because I would not wish to give anything away.

Suffice to say, a great cast seal the deal.

Reasons to watch: Explosive thriller

Reasons to avoid: Hard-to-watch violence

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: Yes

Nudity: In a photo

Overall rating: 9/10

Did you know? Knockemstiff is a real place in Ohio. There are different versions of how it got its name. One claims that a tremendous brawl broke out when the community was in its infancy. Another is the tale of a woman who confronted her preacher during a Sunday morning worship service, informing the clergyman that her husband was cheating on her. She wanted the preacher's advice, and his response was straightforward: "Knock 'em stiff".

The final word. Antonio Campos: "None of these actors were afraid to go to the extreme at times, and part of my job was letting them off the reins and saying “Go with it. You guys are so smart and so committed to this performance that you cannot go wrong. And if you ever go too far, I’m here to rein it in.”" Third Coast Review

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