If you are a regular Netflix user, you almost certainly had this recommended to you on your home page. For me it was featured right at the top. The trailer is solid so I gave it a go as I tend to with things that Netflix suggests to me. The film really starts out with a bang, that much is for sure and the opening 5 minutes give the impression that it is going to carry on in a similar fashion. I'm not saying this is a bad film, because it is not a bad film. However, it does drag on and on and certain aspects of it that are meant to be shocking are easily determined well ahead of time. It's also over 2 hours long and they quite easily could have gotten this film down to 90 minutes or less.
Overall, the film is decent but I would bet that many people will probably lose patience with the extremely slow-burn story and give up before they make it to the end. Don't worry though, if you watch just half of the movie, you can quite easily predict the rest of it.
[src](https://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/the-devil-all-the-time-poster-tom-holland-mia-wasikowska.jpg)I'm going to work pretty hard here to avoid spoilers but let's just say that if you are the type of person that gets offended by films pointing the finger at the hypocrisy of organized religion (in this case, Christianity) you may want to stay away from this movie, because they do a lot of this.
The film focuses primarily on Arvin Russel (Tom Holland) and how he has a pretty tough upbringing as people in his life seem to meet an untimely end with religion being at the center of a great deal of their and his suffering. I suppose in this sense it could be said that this is a coming of age film in a very dark way. As he carries on in life he keeps ending up involved in dangerous and scary aspects of life, much of which has a lot to do with preachers and also religiously motivated zealots.
[src](https://m.wsj.net/video/20200916/091620thedevilallthetime/091620thedevilallthetime_960x540.jpg)He lives a simple life and is very dedicated and loving towards his family, who seem to keep meeting misfortune and as the film moves on, he starts to see it as his duty to correct this. It is quite difficult for me to explain the horror of this without spoiling but I'll just say that the story always leads back to things that happened to him early in life.
This is meant to progress in a "the pieces come together at the last minute" type way, but unfortunately, once you reach a certain point in the film it becomes quite obvious where the story is headed and the shocking finale is something you can predict well before it happens.
[src](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2020/09/14/USAT/f887abe1-ff6f-4fd5-ba32-8b535dddee14-The_Devil_All_The_Time_00_14_32_10.png?crop=696,391,x117,y0&width=696&height=391&format=pjpg&auto=webp)Apparently, this scene involved actual insects although they were not poisonous. I'm not going to spoil how it is, but Roy's intense faith leads to some pretty tragic events happening to both him, and those around him.
The performances by everyone involved were solid, I can't complain about any of the casting, even the addition of Robert Pattinson, who I have really disliked as an actor ever since the Twilight films. Even he does a convincing job as a charismatic reverend who harbors some pretty dark secrets.
Should I watch it?
The trailer gives the impression that this is a fast moving exciting film and it nearly reaches the point of being exciting and it certainly is thought-provoking. Unfortunately it simply takes too long to get to the point in a lot of situations and I found myself nearly turning it off at multiple points. It isn't a bad film; in fact, it is one of the better films i have seen on Netflix lately but that says more about the stock of new releases on Netflix than it does about the quality of this film, which some critics have called "soulless and rote."Therefore, I say that there is some chance that you will like this and if you can make it all the way to the end it is something that you can discuss with friends. It's still better than most superhero films, that is for sure.
