Kinda on the fence for thar one. I honestly can’t tell if I liked it or not. I’m not sure. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. The first hour bored the hell out of me and had me thinking this movie wasn’t worth it, but the second half - wow. My biggest problem is that it started so slow and then everything was so rushed. Too much time is spent on Bill Skarsgaard's character only to set up Arvin's trauma.
There wasn’t really much character development or exposition, so I couldn’t really form any relationships. Most of the characters needed more screen time to get invested in them. For example, I wished Sebastian Stan’s character was more developed, I think he was affected by the all-over-the-place pacing the most. That plot line between him, Riley Keough and Jason Clarke could have been its own movie. That way we would have known more about Sandy, like why did she participate in all that stuff?
The cast is great. None of the performances really sticks out above the rest, in my opinion, and none of them are that bad. Everyone does their job well, except for Bill Skarsgaard, his performance here was the weakest. His accent was very unconvincing and overdone. Tom Holland did a solid job as Arvin, though I can’t help but think the character Arvin should have been cast as more intimidating. The scene where he’s beating up the bullies, I just couldn’t buy him being intimidating.
I think the generational setup is usually very hard to do, and it is not done well here. I wish we saw more of the characters beyond the killings because at some point you meet a new character and just wait and wonder how he/she will die. The Devil All the Time might have been better as a mini-series to further explore the different stories, characters, and themes of religion, delusions, lust and manipulation.
I had intentions of this movie being cliche when looking at it. I. Thought the movie was going to be another one plot exorcist like movie with a devil and a preacher, but this is much more than that. This movie has no direction, yet is action packed and filled with different plots, that intertwine towards the end. The first part of the movie relates to God and how relying on religion can lead to consequences, with multiple deaths happening in the beginning. The reliance on religion and god relates to the “devil” which is a concept I don’t get but don’t want to understand. I was worried of this movie relying too much on the inner parts of the Bible, and I’m glad the second part focuses on the consequences, although it starts to become a revenge plot at the end which is slightly annoying but is only related with two deaths. The ‘devil” doesn’t make sense to me, and who is the devil, unless it is spirit that is the devil. This movie exceeded my expectations because it didn’t follow a one story plot line, and every scene was enjoyable. Robert Pattinson did an excellent job, and carried the movie very well. Bill Skasgard also did a good job. However, Tom Holland’s character is unexacting and is vague, but works. You understand his motivations, and his character works for this movie, no need to learn more about him. I don’t think this movie is supposed to have deep symbolism, and I would rather it didn’t, because it works better with the little connection it has to Christianity to be different. The ending was surprising, ending at a pleasant note.
THE WACPINE OF ‘THE DEVIL ALL THE TIME’
WRITING: 7
ATMOSPHERE: 8
CHARACTERS: 9
PRODUCTION: 8
INTRIGUE: 6
NOVELTY: 7
ENJOYMENT: 8
The Good:
Harry Melling in his best performance yet, took me by total surprise. His performance is both scary and crazy.
Damn these British actors steal the show. Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson are magnificent. Holland carries most of the movie on his shoulders and depicts Arvin's descent into some kind of darkness convincingly.
Sebastian Stan, Jason Clarke, Bill Skarsgård and all the rest re great as well. The acting is what stands out most in this film.
Friends of dark tragedies in historical settings will find plenty to love here, from blind faith to cancer, from death to despair. The atmosphere is dark and brooding, violent and mature.
Director and writer Antonio Campos has a clear vision and gets that across fairly well and in a way that is both convincing and memorable.
The set design, costume design and soundtrack help keeping up the 50s vibe perfectly. I also like the rainy and gritty weather in most key scenes.
The Bad:
The script gives us a lengthy and tragic backstory before moving onto the main storyline. While that also helps to understand the characters better, it could have been cut shorter.
Several plot strand across times, places and characters make it difficult to understand this movie as one coherent story. The movie feels like a collection of anthologies, each less interesting than the previous one.
It feels like this film relishes on killing, raping and bullying people for the sake of it, rather than for storytelling purposes.
The pacing varies hugely, ranging from quiet, slowly moving moments to very tense sequences, and the film doesn’t seem to know what kind of story it wants to tell.
The Ugly:
Is it just me, or does Robert Pattinson look very tired?
WACPINE RATING: 7.57 / 10 = 4 stars
Review by mjBlockedParent2020-09-17T15:21:54Z
Honestly not sure what I was getting into starting this movie. Obviously I am one of the many that are drawn to this because of its stacked cast haha. This movie has a lot of ground to cover; not only is it based off of a book (which is already a challenge in general), it also spans the course of 20 years with like, six separate arcs. It's not surprising that some characters seem a bit shallow compared to others just because of the need to cram as much as possible into a two hour movie. While it's disappointing not being able to dive deep into these characters, the actors do a stellar job at giving us a glimpse. I think every casting choice was perfect, to be honest. Tom Holland leaves behind the dorky cuteness of Spider-Man to fully shine as a twisted protagonist caught in a pressuring, depressing environment. Robert Pattinson blew me away. What the HECK was that accent. I loved it. LMAO.
What really gets me with the film isn't just its overall depressing themes— it's how all those themes tie back to God and religion. Be warned this tackles tough stuff head on: extreme violence, murder, sexual assault/rape, animal abuse, & suicide are all in there. It's frustrating seeing all these characters justify their hypocritical actions with religious intent. It's depressing seeing the more good-hearted characters be gaslit with twisted religious reason. Please do not get me started on Pattinson's character arc, HA. What's worse is that all of these messages that are spread under the guise of the grace of God/God's will/what the Bible says, is that it's not really dramatized. This crap is coursing through Christianity to this day. I was constantly extremely uncomfortable throughout the movie. I started to go down a spiral of just wanting Tom Holland to kill everyone and get it over with, similar to the descent into madness you feel in the Joker as you either cheer Joaquin Phoenix on or wince as he laughs and cries. Either way, this film is definitely a think piece. Does it toe the line of just being trauma porn? Yeah. I think it depends on who you are as a person and how you view it as to whether or not it crosses that line. Catch your pastor preaching about this movie next week lol.
But uhh....BACK TO GENERAL STUFF. The score is absolutely phenomenal. I adored the music. The cinematography is subtle and gorgeous, and the set and costume design seamlessly build this small town world where everyone is related to everyone...ah, gotta love white people. While it is a slower film, I didn't find it to be boring. The suspense and tension built little by little serves for some great showdowns and climaxes between characters. It's a good watch for the cast and if you're into much darker pieces, but it's definitely not for everyone.