The Devil All the Time

I was kind of on the fence about seeing The Devil All the Time.  I haven't read the book upon which it is based and the trailer didn't really appeal to me but my friend gave it such a good review that I decided to see it last night (I know that it is now streaming on Netflix but I prefer seeing movies on the big screen).  It is a Southern Gothic tale set in the small towns of Knockemstiff, Ohio  and Coal Creek, West Virginia in the 1950s and 1960s.  Willard Russell (Bill Skarsgard), traumatized by an event during World War II, resorts to a blood sacrifice to try and save his dying wife Charlotte (Haley Bennett).  Roy Laferty (Harry Melling) is a fire-and-brimstone preacher who kills his wife Helen (Mia Wasikowska) while in the grip of a religious mania.  Years later their pious daughter Lenora (Eliza Scanlen) falls under the spell of an unscrupulous preacher (Robert Pattinson).  Carl Henderson (Jason Clarke) and his wife Sandy (Riley Keough) lure unsuspecting hitchhikers into the woods to take photos of them as they die.  Sheriff Leo Bodecker (Sebastian Stan) is a corrupt politician on the take from members of a prostitution ring.  All of these characters have a profound impact on Arvin Russell (Tom Holland) as he searches for both revenge and redemption.  Like all of the best Southern Gothic stories, it is very dark and very violent but it is a brilliant commentary on the dangers of religious fanaticism and the abuse of power.  The narrative is nonlinear and it almost seems like a series of vignettes at times but all of the stories eventually converge in several dramatic scenes and I was completely riveted because I had to know what connected all of these characters.  Even though some of the events portrayed are quite grisly, the images on the screen are surprisingly beautiful and serve to emphasize that evil is lurking just below the surface of even the most innocuous of places.  The all-star ensemble cast is fantastic but Pattinson and Holland are especially noteworthy.  Pattinson practically steals the show in a flamboyant performance that is fun to watch even if his actions are reprehensible and Holland delivers his best performance to date as a young man who refuses to let evil go unpunished.  My only complaint would be the extensive voice-over narration, provided by the author Donald Ray Pollock, because it sometimes keeps the characters at a distance.  This will definitely not be for everyone (several people left the theater in my screening) but I think it is extremely powerful and I highly recommend it.

Note:  It is in select theaters for a limited engagement as well as streaming on Netflix.