'The Devil All The Time' Movie Review

Introduction

Good is good. Evil is evil. But can evil be good?

Key themes

Willard, fighting in the war, loses faith as he stumbles across Mellar Jones, a fellow soldier who was hung on a tree.

Later on in his life, Willard finds faith in God again. He raises his son, Arvin, and prays to God about everything.

When Charlotte, Willard's wife, becomes sick of cancer, Willard brings Arvin to pray for her recovery. Willard sacrifices Jack, the family dog, to persuade God to heal Charlotte.

Charlotte dies. Willard kills himself on the day of her burial. His body is found by Arvin when he went to bury Jack.

Arvin goes to live with his great-uncle and grandmother, alongside with his "step-sister" Lenora.

Arvin and Lenora grow up together as if they were biological siblings. A new preacher comes to town and Arvin is suspicious of him.

Arvin takes revenge on all of Lenora's bullies just like his father did to his own bullies when he was young.

Lenora has sex with the new preacher, Reverend Preston, after he convinced her it would make her 'closer to God'.

Lenora becomes pregnant with the Reverend's baby. In shame, she attempts to kill herself, but after thought decides against it. In attempt to remove the rope from her neck, she accidentally trips and kills herself.

Arvin gets revenge for Lenora and kills the Reverend. Whilst running away, Arvin's car breaks down and he looks for a ride.

A couple (Sandy and Carl), who murder hitchhikers, pick Arvin up on the roadside. However, Arvin kills them both before they kill him.

Deputy Lee, older brother of Sandy, searches for Arvin. He recognises Arvin from the night Willard died. Lee attempts to kill Arvin, but is murdered instead.

Arvin seeks a ride, travelling into his unknown future.

Key questions

• Are Sandy and Carl serial killers?
• Did Carl kill those men for Sandy's sake?
• Were Sandy and Carl serial killers by choice or for 'work'?
• What was Deputy Lee involved in?
• Did the former Reverend die of sickness?
• Did Arvin go to school?
• Did Arvin have a job?
• What will be of Arvin's future?
• How was Mellar Jones still alive even after being sacrificed?
• Was Arvin following in his father's footsteps?

Conclusion

'The Devil All The Time' is a film about testing and faith. The films hints that we all have a little (or a lot of) evil within us. All characters were truly tested, they all had their challenges, and with those challenges arose their faith in whatever they thought would help them. Arvin grew up a slightly troubled boy after losing his parents, but managed to learn some good moral conducts. He protected those he loved at all costs. Arvin also appeared to straighten out the crooks in the town, like a local hero. The film portrayed well how "it's a small world" as all characters, despite having drastically different story-lines, all ended up combining stories and having a familiar ending - death. 'Like father, like son' was another recognised theme as Arvin's life seemed to match up against his father's. Arvin killed and injured few, but with good intentions. Does that make his crimes justified? Does that make his crimes 'Holy'? Is Arvin a Devil or a God-like character? Is Arvin really doing wrong?

At the end of the day, Arvin may have not had faith in God, but he had faith in good and keeping things that way; good.

Cast

Bill Skarsgård - Willard

Tom Holland - Arvin

Haley Bennett - Charlotte

Eliza Scanlen - Lenora

Robert Pattinson - Reverend Preston

Sebastian Stan - Deputy Lee

Riley Keough - Sandy

Jason Clarke - Carl