Offering a range of movies and television series,Netflixhas an assortment of things for anyone to enjoy. With loads of pre-existing and original content available for streaming at any time, it’s impossible not to find something that will satisfy someone’s desire to binge.
ManyNetflixOriginals have scored impressive award wins and earnedwell-deserved nominations. With so much to choose from, some of Netflix’s remarkable products are missed, or even worse, canceled. With a cast including Tom Holland, Bill Skarsgård, Sebastian Stan, Robert Pattinson, Eliza Scanlen, Harry Melling, Haley Bennett, Riley Keough, Mia Wasikowska, and Jason Clarke, it should be hard to miss this Netflix Original.
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In 2020, Netflix released its star-studded original filmThe Devil All the Time. Based on the Donald Ray Pollock novel of the same name,The Devil All the Timeexplores an intricately woven plot that toys with the lives of a number of corrupted characters. As the title hints,The Devil All the Timeis like many otherpsychological thrillersand deals with religious themes that lead more than a few characters to make some life-altering decisions.
The film begins with Willard (Skarsgård), a World War II soldier, who finds a fellow soldier who has been brutally tortured, tethered to a cross. This discovery leaves Willard with doubts and as he returns home, he struggles to overcome the atrocities he’s witnessed. It ultimately leads Willard to have an unhealthy relationship with his religion and puts him in a dark state of mind that he struggles to recover from.
Of course, Willard is not the only character with a gloomy mental state that is difficult to recover from. While Willard may kickstart the three-ring plot that createsThe Devil All the Time, he also introduces the additional plotlines. Afterreturning home from the war,Willard crosses paths with Roy Lafferty (Melling), an eccentric spider-wielding preacher who travels the country with his wheelchair-bound brother Theodore (played by Pokey LaFarge). The duo’s innovative preaching technique begins to corrupt their own minds and eventually results in tragedy.
The Devil All the Time’sfinal ring begins to take form once Willard returns home. Sandy (Keough) meets her partner in crime around the same time Willard meets his future wife Charlotte (Bennett). Sandy eventually marries Carl (Clarke) and the two embark on a dangerous and thrilling serial killing spree. As complicated as their relationship is, it grows more difficult once Sandy’s brother Lee (Stan) gets involved.
Arvin (Holland) acts as the central character for all ofThe Devil All the Time’smayhem. As Willard’s son, Arvin begins to experience a few coincidences eerily similar to his father. Among them is Arvin’s shaky relationship with his faith and the run-in he has with aless than holy preacher, Reverend Preston Teagardin (Pattinson). Yearning to protect his family, Arvin is forced to make more than a few life-altering decisions of his own.
With a cast this stellar,The Devil All the Timeis set to draw a lot of attention. Using both established and rising talent,The Devil All the Timeconsists of impressive performances. With each role requiring specific attention, there is one commonality amongst the entire cast that left many viewers stunned. For these roles, one of the more difficult thingsto master is the accent. Despite occurring in two northern U.S. states, the characters inThe Devil All the Timespeak with southern accents.
Set in rural areas of West Virginia and Ohio during the 40s until the 60s,The Devil All the Timetakes viewers back to a troubling time in American history. As a native of the area he has depicted in his novel, Pollock is able to bring a fresh and authentic perspective to the film adaptation of his work. With a majority of the cast coming from areas outside of the U.S., Pollock’s knowledge helps the main and supporting cast deliver stunning performances.
Of the dialect performances, Skarsgård’s is among the most impressive. Struggling with his war memories and his skepticism surrounding his faith, Skarsgård has a lot to tackle. With everything Skarsgård works to encompass into his performance, he also manages to deliver the most convincing and authentically sounding accent. Skarsgård’s performance is so convincing that it almost makes viewers forget that he was the face behind the killer clown in the newest adaptation ofStephen King’sIt.
With Pollock’s firsthand guidance and available dialect coaching, the extensive cast is set up for success. While Skarsgård happens to deliver one of the most impressive performances of the film, the story behind the accent of Pattinson’s Tennesee-based preacher is the most surprising. In fact, Pattinson’s accent was such a surprise that not even director Antonio Campos knew what Pattinson would sound like prior to his first day on set.
With such an impressive cast and the Netflix name attached,The Devil All the Timeshould have received more acclaim than it did. Unfortunately, many lost interest in the film’s slow pace. With that aside, many viewers enjoyed what each actor brought to the screen, including the countlesstwist and turnsthe story provided. The unpredictable nature of each character made it impossible to know what was coming next. Even thoughThe Devil All the Timeis set in small towns and might begin with a slower pace, it is certainly worth hanging in for.
