The Devil All the TimeEveryday people struggle with the evils that lurk in the peripheries of their souls; the worst let it consume them. The Devil All the Time is a crime thriller set over a period of almost two decades (1948 to 1965) in and around southern Ohio and West Virginia. It details two generations caught in a web of sin and darkness, where charmers hide terrible secrets and the men who give into vengeance only bring more ruin into their lives and the lives of their loved ones. It is a hard and bitter life, full of poverty and loss, of shattered dreams and betrayal. And where innocence is all too quickly rent asunder.
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The Devil All the Time is adapted from the novel of the same name by Donald Ray Pollock, who also narrates the film. The story jumps back and forth between the years with flashbacks to the time when ex-soldier Willard Russell (Bill Skarsgård) returned home after a harrowing tour in the Pacific and meets the pretty waitress, Charlotte (Haley Bennett). In time, they marry and have a son named Arvin (Michael Banks Repeta); but tragedy is the only constant in The Devil All the Time. When Arvin is made an orphan, he is taken in by his grandmother, Emma (Kristin Griffith), and his uncle, Earskill (David Atkinson). Emma has also taken another orphan named Lenora (Ever Eloise Landrum) after her mother, Helen (Mia Wasikowska), vanished after leaving for a picnic one day with her husband, Roy (Harry Melling), and his cousin, Theodore (Pokey LaFarge); Helen was discovered dead and buried in the woods several years later. Time passes and an older Arvin (Tom Holland) and Lenora (Eliza Scanlen) become friends. Arvin is reluctant to embrace religion as Lenora does, after what happened to his father. A slick new preacher named Reverend Preston Teagardin (Robert Pattinson) comes to lead the local congregation, and subsequently seizes on Lenora's vulnerability and exploits her. Struck by yet another tragedy, Arvin's cold rage wells up, setting him on a path of retribution against Teagardin. This is the core story in The Devil All the Time, though other supporting plot threads weave their way into it. There is also the story of a serial killer named Carl (Jason Clarke), who lures hitchhikers into a trap with his accomplice and wife, Sandy (Riley Keough), promising sex with her only to slaughter them and take photographs of his "models". And there is the story of Lee Bodecker (Sebastian Stan), Sandy's brother and the sheriff, who is neck deep in local corruption and graft, but is only concerned with covering up any scandal that would keep him from getting reelected. All of these stories paint the bleak pastoral that is the world of The Devil All the Time.
As is the case with any adaptation, some of the content from Pollack's novel didn't make the cut for the film adaptation. (Warning: spoilers for the film and book ahead.) Much of the back story about Sandy and Carl falls by the wayside, which makes a key moment at the end--after Carl has swapped out her revolver's bullets with blanks--lose some poignancy. There is also a side plot involving Carl buttering up a young waitress and potential replacement for Sandy that doesn't get included here, nor does Sandy's rape many years prior that Carl was inadvertently a party to--so what ties these two psychopaths together becomes difficult to support in the film's albeit solid runtime of two hours and twenty minutes. Similarly, the complicated dynamic between Roy and Theodore is barely touched on at all, and their time on the run with the circus is cut completely. There is also a side plot about Willard and Charlotte's scummy, cuckold landlord that is entirely absent, as are the one-off chapters about a bus driver interested in going to Cincinnati to see the Reds, or the inner thoughts of a convenience store owner who gives Arvin a root beer after he becomes an orphan. On the other hand, the film remains very faithful to the rest of the book, and keeps Arvin's tale at the front and center. Furthermore, many other events from the book are also faithfully depicted, and for those (like me) who read the book in anticipation, this gives an extra dimension to the movie. Take the scene early on when Willard and Arvin are praying at their "prayer log" in the woods, and a pair of hunters make salacious comments about Charlotte. Willard bides his time, and eventually takes his son to watch him brutalize the pair when their defenses are down. It's moments like these that bring these forceful events from the book to life.
Perhaps one reason that this material that didn't make the cut was because of its similarity to other works that clearly inspired the book. Fundamentally, Roy and Theodore's story is that of Perry and Dick from the chilling "In Cold Blood". It is also evident that Pollock's dark tale has its roots in the works of Jim Thompson, saturated in corrupt characters and moral depravity, with only the rarest example of virtue to be found. Lee Bodecker is not far removed from Nick Corey from "Pop. 1280", always looking out for "number one"--a selfish hypocrite who represents the law, but is practically the worst crook of them all. The story of Willard's landlord feels like kin to this kind of hard boiled noir fare, and perhaps that's why it just couldn't fit into the film--it would be like gilding the lily. The same could also be said for Carl and Sandy's backstory, which echoes so many doomed romances between thrill killers that sour, like Terrance Malick's Badlands or even Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers. What remains is the concentrated kernel of the story in The Devil All the Time, exploring how people desperately cling to institutions like religion or family for comfort, though security and happiness are rarely guaranteed. Teagardin is a monumental monster, who uses the word of God to manipulate young girls into sex and to shame those in his congregation whom he feels have brought him insufficient tribute. Roy uses religion to get attention, putting on outlandish displays like pouring spiders over himself in church; despite this, Helen falls in love with him all the same. And unfortunately for Helen, her love for someone so deluded as Roy gets her killed. The Devil All the Time identifies a link between indulging in sin and the tragic cost that follows. Consider when one of the Russell men engages in vengeance, and it is shortly followed by a scene that heralds greater tragedy yet to come. After Willard beats up the hunters, he and Arvin come home to find Charlotte passed out--the first sign of her terminal cancer setting in. This leads Willard to a long and terrible regimen of prayer sessions by the log, convinced that he can pray the cancer away...but only if he is willing to sacrifice enough to make it happen. And while Arvin beats up a few school boys who previously attacked Lenora, he isn't there to keep her out of Teagardin's clutches. These moments make The Devil All the Time a moral tale, and these moments are knit together to explore how the cost of sin is never worth it.
Recommended for: Fans of a dark crime story that showcases a deeply rural community and the people in and around it who, like Willard, "fight the devil all the time" in one way or another, and often lose. Despite being notably tamer than the book, The Devil All the Time is very much for mature audiences, as it is filled with brutal violence, language, and perverse sexual content--although this last part is primarily depicted through insinuation.
As is the case with any adaptation, some of the content from Pollack's novel didn't make the cut for the film adaptation. (Warning: spoilers for the film and book ahead.) Much of the back story about Sandy and Carl falls by the wayside, which makes a key moment at the end--after Carl has swapped out her revolver's bullets with blanks--lose some poignancy. There is also a side plot involving Carl buttering up a young waitress and potential replacement for Sandy that doesn't get included here, nor does Sandy's rape many years prior that Carl was inadvertently a party to--so what ties these two psychopaths together becomes difficult to support in the film's albeit solid runtime of two hours and twenty minutes. Similarly, the complicated dynamic between Roy and Theodore is barely touched on at all, and their time on the run with the circus is cut completely. There is also a side plot about Willard and Charlotte's scummy, cuckold landlord that is entirely absent, as are the one-off chapters about a bus driver interested in going to Cincinnati to see the Reds, or the inner thoughts of a convenience store owner who gives Arvin a root beer after he becomes an orphan. On the other hand, the film remains very faithful to the rest of the book, and keeps Arvin's tale at the front and center. Furthermore, many other events from the book are also faithfully depicted, and for those (like me) who read the book in anticipation, this gives an extra dimension to the movie. Take the scene early on when Willard and Arvin are praying at their "prayer log" in the woods, and a pair of hunters make salacious comments about Charlotte. Willard bides his time, and eventually takes his son to watch him brutalize the pair when their defenses are down. It's moments like these that bring these forceful events from the book to life.
Perhaps one reason that this material that didn't make the cut was because of its similarity to other works that clearly inspired the book. Fundamentally, Roy and Theodore's story is that of Perry and Dick from the chilling "In Cold Blood". It is also evident that Pollock's dark tale has its roots in the works of Jim Thompson, saturated in corrupt characters and moral depravity, with only the rarest example of virtue to be found. Lee Bodecker is not far removed from Nick Corey from "Pop. 1280", always looking out for "number one"--a selfish hypocrite who represents the law, but is practically the worst crook of them all. The story of Willard's landlord feels like kin to this kind of hard boiled noir fare, and perhaps that's why it just couldn't fit into the film--it would be like gilding the lily. The same could also be said for Carl and Sandy's backstory, which echoes so many doomed romances between thrill killers that sour, like Terrance Malick's Badlands or even Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers. What remains is the concentrated kernel of the story in The Devil All the Time, exploring how people desperately cling to institutions like religion or family for comfort, though security and happiness are rarely guaranteed. Teagardin is a monumental monster, who uses the word of God to manipulate young girls into sex and to shame those in his congregation whom he feels have brought him insufficient tribute. Roy uses religion to get attention, putting on outlandish displays like pouring spiders over himself in church; despite this, Helen falls in love with him all the same. And unfortunately for Helen, her love for someone so deluded as Roy gets her killed. The Devil All the Time identifies a link between indulging in sin and the tragic cost that follows. Consider when one of the Russell men engages in vengeance, and it is shortly followed by a scene that heralds greater tragedy yet to come. After Willard beats up the hunters, he and Arvin come home to find Charlotte passed out--the first sign of her terminal cancer setting in. This leads Willard to a long and terrible regimen of prayer sessions by the log, convinced that he can pray the cancer away...but only if he is willing to sacrifice enough to make it happen. And while Arvin beats up a few school boys who previously attacked Lenora, he isn't there to keep her out of Teagardin's clutches. These moments make The Devil All the Time a moral tale, and these moments are knit together to explore how the cost of sin is never worth it.
Recommended for: Fans of a dark crime story that showcases a deeply rural community and the people in and around it who, like Willard, "fight the devil all the time" in one way or another, and often lose. Despite being notably tamer than the book, The Devil All the Time is very much for mature audiences, as it is filled with brutal violence, language, and perverse sexual content--although this last part is primarily depicted through insinuation.