When it comes to suspenseful crime thrillers, there's no shortage of them in Hollywood. We've seen some of the best rise in the hall of greats (Se7en, Zodiac, No Country for Old Men) and some of the less fortunate sink into obscurity. With the world currently at a standstill due to the global pandemic, we've seen very few films of merit actually release this year or make their way to streaming platforms. Recently, Netflix released The Devil All The Time, a crime thriller that looked like it was also aiming for the hall of greats. With a packed, talented cast and a promising premise, this was shaping up to be something special, right?

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The Devil All The Time takes place in mid 20th century West Virginia, sandwiched between World War II and the impending Vietnam war. It chronicles two generations of family: a father struggling with his faith in God, and a son who witnesses something traumatizing as a kid that leads him on a path of vengeance and madness. While this is the centerfold of the narrative, there are other events happening around it as well: a cop dealing with waist-high corruption; a preacher at a local church harbouring dark secrets; and a Bonnie and Clyde-like pair of killers on a killing spree across mid-America.



The Devil All The Time throws a lot at you initially and for a vast majority of the film, none of these sub-plots and stories make sense until the very end when they all converge. Therein lies the brilliance of the film. Much like how Paul Thomas Anderson's movies (like Boogie Nights and Magnolia) feature multiple disjointed characters that all serve a purpose, The Devil All The Time tries its best to bring everything crashing down on the viewer in the last 30 minutes, leading to a harrowing and very intense finale that was both thrilling and maddening all at once.

You get the sense that, much like No Country for Old Men, this is a location displaced from the rest of America...

That said, the first act - which encompasses the first 45 minutes or so - can be a bit messy. The movie really takes its time setting up the characters, their backstories, and world surrounding them. You get the sense that, much like No Country for Old Men, this is a location displaced from the rest of America - completely isolated and alone in the middle of nowhere, with a bunch of unfortunate souls dealing with crimes beyond their understanding. The film's opening act really struggles to convey this tone, and it's not until we're finally introduced to Tom Holland (at least his character as a young adult) does the story begin to focus up and get fascinating.



The Devil All The Time features one of the most impressive casts of the year, consisting of Holland, Bill Skarsgard (best known for playing the new Pennywise the Clown), Robert Pattinson, Sebastian Stan, and Jason Clarke, among many others - and they all bring their A-game to the performances. Holland and Pattinson are especially phenomenal in their roles, with Pattinson playing a creepy preacher very well. Watching Holland's descent into madness as the film progressed was quite bleak and brutal - and definitely not easy to watch - but due to the actor's extremely likable on-screen persona, he simply carried the movie and stole every scene he was in.

It's dark, bleak, and void of any sense of humour - which may not always provide the most comfortable or enjoyable viewing experience.

For the most part, The Devil All The Time is a slow burner with razor-sharp tension as the film slowly unravels itself. It's dark, bleak, and void of any sense of humour - which may not always provide the most comfortable or enjoyable viewing experience. The film largely succeeds because of its terrific cast. Without it, I don't think it would've nearly made the same impact.



However, this also leads me to some of my negatives for The Devil All The Time. The most glaring issue is that it lacks originality. This is the kind of film you've seen made before by the likes of the Coen brothers or Paul Thomas Anderson. I've already mentioned it twice, but there's no denying just how thematically and tonally similar this movie is to No Country for Old Men - to the point where it's a bit jarring to watch without nitpicking the similarities. The generational storyline of "sins of the father" is something that was explored better in The Place Beyond The Pines too. Hell, the central murder plot is even something straight out of Fargo. I'd hate to keep harping on about comparisons, but The Devil All The Time, while still good to even great at times, struggles to find its own unique edge.



That said, if you aren't familiar with the aforementioned films or don't mind the obvious similarities, The Devil All The Time has a lot to offer. It's an emotionally investing, disturbing, and harrowing look into the lives of a handful of individuals caught in a web of corruption, crime and murder. Holland breaks out of his shell and delivers a surprisingly mature and explosive performance, completely stealing the show, while Pattinson contrasts him with one of the most despicably brilliant villains of the year. Not everything makes sense until its last few moments, but if you stick with it, you'll come out having seen something that was just on the edge of special.

*The Devil All The Time is now available for streaming on Netflix