Hypocrisy is everywhere, but no where in America can hypocrites be found in more abundance than its religious institutions. It's been a fun topic for writers for many years, for example, Book of Days by American playwright Lanford Wilson. Couple such hypocrisy with life expectations that can't be fulfilled due to poverty and lack of opportunity, with corrupt law enforcement and you have no where to go but down (at least morally).
Writer Donald Ray Pollock (often called "Hillbilly Gothic") wrote another treatment of the small town that organizes its social and community life around its Christian church where people say one thing but do another because they have so few, viable choices.
Pollock's collaboration with director/writer Antonio Campos to bring his great novel to the screen is pure genius (he's also the film's narrator). Book-to-screen is never easy, because tough decisions must be made as to what gets omitted without losing the primary themes of the story (and this film really works).
Campos and Pollock succeed on every level in telling the story of ordinary people that do truly unbelievable things when law, moral leadership, and religion fail them.
This story unfolds at a time when America's law enforcement, especially in rural communities, was still immature as the country was recovering from the aftermath of World War II. It's 1957, and though the FBI has been around for over 50 years, its big field offices still cluster in major cities and larger towns. Rural America? Not so much. Moreover, there's no real police force in the type of small town writers like Lanford Wilson, Harper Lee, Kent Haruf, and Carson McCullers love to write about. But Pollock joins this group of writers with an intensity most writers dare attempt with some extreme amoral killers (led by the great Jason Clarke) and a corrupt cop (wonderfully played by Sebastian Stan). The Devil All the Time is right up there with No Country for Old Men in the way it thrills its audience.
What really works in this film is the intrigue that slowly unfolds as we witness ordinary people trying to live the life their community expects them to live (marriage and family) but lack the right role models. Add a corrupt minister, sheriff (no mayor ever emerges) and extreme poverty (with no paths to advance) and you have all the makings for people that have only a gun on their side.
The casting is spot-on starting with an intense performance by Bill Skarsgard, who is only in the movie for the first 40 minutes, but sets the stage for everything that is about to happen. The challenge in any film like this is how to get authentic, truly honest performances from actors that likely have zero reference point to draw on when becoming these bizarre characters.
Whatever Campos does, whatever techniques he uses, it works! Every member of the cast delivers a truthful performance from Skarsgard, young Banks Repeta (amazing), Haley Bennett, Kristin Griffith, Riley Keough, and veteran Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty) who plays a great villan. Skarsgard early in the film passes the starting role over to the great Tom Holland who does a masterful job carrying the story to its surprise conclusion. I loved Robert Pattinson as the corrupt reverend. One has to believe he had a great time with this sinister role.
Writer Donald Ray Pollock (often called "Hillbilly Gothic") wrote another treatment of the small town that organizes its social and community life around its Christian church where people say one thing but do another because they have so few, viable choices.
Pollock's collaboration with director/writer Antonio Campos to bring his great novel to the screen is pure genius (he's also the film's narrator). Book-to-screen is never easy, because tough decisions must be made as to what gets omitted without losing the primary themes of the story (and this film really works).
Campos and Pollock succeed on every level in telling the story of ordinary people that do truly unbelievable things when law, moral leadership, and religion fail them.
This story unfolds at a time when America's law enforcement, especially in rural communities, was still immature as the country was recovering from the aftermath of World War II. It's 1957, and though the FBI has been around for over 50 years, its big field offices still cluster in major cities and larger towns. Rural America? Not so much. Moreover, there's no real police force in the type of small town writers like Lanford Wilson, Harper Lee, Kent Haruf, and Carson McCullers love to write about. But Pollock joins this group of writers with an intensity most writers dare attempt with some extreme amoral killers (led by the great Jason Clarke) and a corrupt cop (wonderfully played by Sebastian Stan). The Devil All the Time is right up there with No Country for Old Men in the way it thrills its audience.
What really works in this film is the intrigue that slowly unfolds as we witness ordinary people trying to live the life their community expects them to live (marriage and family) but lack the right role models. Add a corrupt minister, sheriff (no mayor ever emerges) and extreme poverty (with no paths to advance) and you have all the makings for people that have only a gun on their side.
The casting is spot-on starting with an intense performance by Bill Skarsgard, who is only in the movie for the first 40 minutes, but sets the stage for everything that is about to happen. The challenge in any film like this is how to get authentic, truly honest performances from actors that likely have zero reference point to draw on when becoming these bizarre characters.
Whatever Campos does, whatever techniques he uses, it works! Every member of the cast delivers a truthful performance from Skarsgard, young Banks Repeta (amazing), Haley Bennett, Kristin Griffith, Riley Keough, and veteran Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty) who plays a great villan. Skarsgard early in the film passes the starting role over to the great Tom Holland who does a masterful job carrying the story to its surprise conclusion. I loved Robert Pattinson as the corrupt reverend. One has to believe he had a great time with this sinister role.