Dee Garcia
Multimedia Editor
Released on Sept. 16, “The Devil All the Time” is one of the newest movies on Netflix and has reached number 10 on the ‘Top 10 in the U.S. Today’ as of Sept. 23, 2020. The movie stars Hollywood actors Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Bill Skarsgård, and many more.
You may know Tom Holland as Spiderman from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but he’s not just the incredible webslinger we all know and love. Holland has been in many movies and musicals meant for younger audiences, such as “Billy Elliot” and “The Lost City of Z”, but this movie challenges him with a serious adult role.
“Thank you to everyone that has given this a watch. It’s been a big step for me in my career and I’m so glad to be finally showcasing it with all of you,” said Tom Holland on his Instagram post on Sept. 17.
Robert Pattinson, also known for his famous role as a sparkly teen vampire in the “Twilight” series, joins Holland in the film. Although his character on “Twilight” brought forth his fame, he has since acted in other projects such as “Good Time” and “Tenet.” These serious acting roles have given the world new insight on Pattinson’s acting abilities.
The movie is dark, rated ‘R’ and not recommended for younger viewers. The runtime is two hours and 18 minutes long.
**Spoilers Ahead**
The film was originally a novel, published in 2011 by Donald Ray Pollock, who also narrates the movie. Directed by Antonio Campos, “The Devil All the Time” takes place in southern Ohio and West Virginia after the end of World War II up to 1965, jumping through the timeline in different scenes.
Willard Russell (Bill Skarsgard) returns home from the war with a negative view of God. He meets a beautiful young woman named Charlotte (Haley Bennett) at a diner and decides to marry her and have a child, young Arvin Russell (Michael Banks Repeta). Now with a new family, Willard starts to find God again, teaching his son to pray and defend himself whenever need be.
Shortly after, Charlotte gets cancer and passes away; because he can’t deal with the pain, Willard kills himself, leaving his son an orphan. Arvin goes to live with his grandma and uncle where they introduce young Lenora (Ever Eloise Landrum), his newly adopted “step sister”.
Meanwhile, serial killers Sandy (Riley Keough), a waitress, and Carl (Jason Clarke), a photographer, meet and pick up hitchhikers, making them do unspeakable tasks before killing them.
By the time they are in high school, Lenora and Arvin treat each other like brother and sister. One day, rather than embarking on the pair’s everyday visit to the grave of Lenora’s mother, Arvin skips to pay a visit to all the boys who have picked on Lenora, beating them up.
At the grave by herself, Lenora gets rained on, causing her to retreat to the nearby church for shelter. While there, she runs into the new reverend, Preston Teagardin, who tells her they should take a drive into the forest where he sexually assaults her. When she finds out she’s pregnant, she kills herself after Teagardin says she is just being delusional and that she needs to get rid of her child. When Arvin finds her, he grieves and goes to confront Teagardin, killing him over what happened with Lenora.
Now on the run, Arvin hitchhikes away from the town and is picked up by the young serial killer couple, Sandy and Carl. Before he becomes one of their victims, Arvin figures out what’s going on and shoots both of them. He then runs all the way back to his childhood home to come to terms with what has happened. Little did he know that Sandy was the sister of Sheriff Bodecker (Sebastian Stan) and once he figures out that Arvin killed her, he goes to find him. Arvin ends up shooting the sheriff and he takes off, hitchhiking again. The movie ends with him dozing off and contemplating his future.
I never watched the trailer for this movie so seeing it for the first time was surprising because I didn’t know what to expect. I cried a lot, especially during scenes that touched me, such as the death of Lenora and how Arvin had to keep shooting people for his safety. Overall, I liked how different and creepy the movie was. It definitely is a must for people who enjoy a different kind of acting and a stellar cast.
Because of the current pandemic, there is no better time to stay home and watch this movie that leaves you curious about the main character and how his life will be after everything he encountered.
