JASON EVANS' 100 WORD REVIEWS: Netflix's The Devil All The Time

Hard to watch, but worth it!

Film critic Jason Evans is here to bring you what you need to know about movies in bite-sized chunks that are quick to read. Here is his 100-word-review of Neflix’s The Devil All The Time.

The Premise: Set in the gothic backwoods of 1950s Ohio and West Virginia, where god-fearing religion was a staple of the community, The Devil All The Time tells the story of good-hearted Arvin Russell (Tom Holland), a young man who cannot avoid the evil and violence that surrounds him. The story begins with Arvin’s troubled war-veteran father (Bill Skarsgård) and eventually encircles a deviant preacher (Robert Pattinson), a corrupt sheriff (Sebastian Stan), and a murderous couple (Jason Clark and Riley Keogh). It is worth noting that the narrator for the film is Donald Ray Pollack, the author of the award-winning novel that the movie is based upon.

The 100 Words: Relentlessly bleak and disturbing, The Devil All The Time is nonetheless alluring. In the hands of a lesser cast, this would be a real mess but there isn’t a poor performance to be found. The intensity and humanity the actors bring to the screen injects a sense of honesty into what could have easily descended into farcical evil. This is a difficult film to watch at times (animals and humans are killed in brutal fashion) and the script meanders through several different stories, but it all comes together in a fast-paced back half that makes the whole experience worth it.  

What do you think? Reach out to Jason Evans on twitter @JasonDukeEvans to let him know.