“The Devil All the Time”

Directed by: Antonio Campos

Rated: R

Runtime: 2:18

Starring an all-star cast of A-list hunks including Robert Pattinson, Tom Holland, Sebastian Stan and Bill Skarsgard, “The Devil All the Time” is Netflix’s latest period piece. It focuses on a young man in a small town who sets out to protect his loved ones from the sinister figures that live there. What follows is a film about revenge that puts morality to the ultimate test.

I, of course, was so excited about this film, given that the cast is iconic, as many critics will note. The performances throughout the film are anything but short of fantastic — especially that of Robert Pattinson, who gives a performance of a lifetime as a derailed priest. However, great performances aside, I found this film hard to stomach for several reasons.

First of all, the film is rated R, which you should definitely pay attention to ahead of time if you are a parent. I think this film is very mature in its language, sexual content and violence. I cannot stomach graphic violence or gore, so this film did not sit well for me, especially at the beginning. So, if you are not a fan of blood, take my advice and stay away.

Violence aside, however, I just never was drawn into the film. It was kind of slow, and I expected it to pick up the pace, and it never did. I thought the acting was incredible regardless, so I found it odd that the film’s narrative lagged throughout. With this being said, the film seems to rely on its A-list cast to bring the conflict into the film and while it works with some iconic scenes, it does not help the fact that the film’s writing is a little stale.

Overall, I think that the hype over “The Devil All the Time” was more impressive than the film itself. So many people were counting down the days until its release and quite frankly, nothing great came out of it besides a mediocre Rotten Tomatoes score of 65% and many, many TikTok’s praising Robert Pattinson. If you are like me and cannot stomach any type of violence, just sit this one out — I found myself struggling to even look at the screen during the majority of the film. However, if you do like watching violence with a little bit of action for a painfully long runtime, then go ahead and check out this film. Based on strictly the entertainment value, however, I give the film a 5 out of 10 — it was not that great.