Film

The Devil All the Time

Name: The Devil All the Time
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Released: 2020
Cast: Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Bill Skarsgård, Riley Keough, Jason Clarke

Crime
Very dark

A sprawling rural noir about a young man caught between the violence of his past and predators closing in. Arvin Russell navigates a corrupt small-town ecosystem where preachers, cops, and killers all wear respectable faces. It's deliberately paced, gorgeously grim, and built on the principle that evil often hides in plain sight, especially in places where nobody's watching.

TMDb rating

3.6

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like slow-burning Southern Gothic stories where bleak, morally tangled characters carry the weight and the dread builds through atmosphere rather than shocks.

Skip it if you need a clear, propulsive plot, since this one is episodic and sprawling, with long stretches of brutality and a narrative that wanders between many lives.

What it asks of you: It runs a little over two hours and takes its time, weaving several loosely linked characters together, with violence that lands hard and a mood that rarely lightens.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Out of the Furnace2013

Another Appalachian revenge story where a working man is pushed past his limit. Christian Bale channels the same quiet rage as Holland, and the film earns every ounce of its despair without flinching.

But Slower and more meditative than action-heavy marketing suggests. The payoff is earned but not cathartic—it sits with you wrong.

Wind River2017

An investigation into a crime on a reservation becomes a portrait of systemic indifference. Like Devil, it understands that the real horror is often institutional, not personal, and that good people can be helpless against it.

But Lean, methodical, and genuinely heavy. There's no lightness here, and the mystery matters less than the moral weight.

Prisoners2013

Two fathers, a missing girl, and a descent into moral chaos. Denis Villeneuve orchestrates mounting dread with the same patient inevitability—you watch good people become questionable in real time.

But Nearly three hours of escalating tension. The ending divides people. Some find it brilliant; others feel punished.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Devil All the Time

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

There Will Be Blood2007

Both are hymns to American corruption told through accumulation and atmosphere rather than plot—they trust that showing you the rot is enough.

Paul Thomas Anderson's oil-field epic is Devil's artistic ancestor: meticulous, painterly brutality told through male ambition and spiritual corruption. It shares the film's refusal to separate morality from landscape—the place itself is a character.

But Deliberately paced to the point where it feels like watching paint dry. Daniel Plainview is a titan; Devil's Arvin is a victim. The comparison is structural, not tonal.

Killers of the Flower Moon2023

Scorsese's Osage story is built on the same DNA: ordinary monsters embedded in community, the slow reveal of institutional evil, a young man catching onto patterns too late. Methodical, furious, and deeply sad.

But Long, deliberate, and refuses easy villainy. The horror accumulates rather than explodes. Requires patience and attention.

Mystic River2003

Clint Eastwood follows three men haunted by childhood trauma into a murder that dredges up everything they've buried. It shares Devil's belief that small towns are pressure cookers and violence is often already there.

But Dense, masculine, and quite bleak. Some find it dated; others find that part of its power.

The Place Beyond the Pines2013

Generational violence ripples through a community across decades. Like Devil, it weaves multiple timelines and moral failures into a portrait of how damage spreads through families and places.

But The structure can feel overambitious. Some threads work better than others, and the sprawl occasionally muddies its own point.

Mud2013

Two boys befriend a fugitive living on an island. It's a coming-of-age thriller that captures the same sense of an adolescent learning that adults are compromised, dangerous, and not to be trusted.

But Shifts tone as it goes on. Starts as an adventure and becomes something sadder and more complicated.

Hell or High Water2016

Two brothers rob banks to save their land while a ranger closes in. It's tense, economical, and built on the idea that desperation corrupts everyone eventually, regardless of intention.

But More propulsive than Devil—some prefer it, but it trades depth for momentum.

A Dark Song2016

An unconventional occult film about grief, guilt, and the places faith takes us when we're desperate. It captures the same oppressive spiritual weight and the sense that faith itself can be weaponized.

But Very slow, very quiet, and entirely sincere about mysticism. If you resist its tone, it'll feel glacial and self-indulgent.

Minari2021

Both are set in the American backwoods and understand that place as both beautiful and suffocating—but they ask entirely different questions about what survives there.

A Korean-American family builds a farm in Arkansas, and the American Dream becomes a pressure cooker of sacrifice and resentment. It's rural and deeply human, but where Devil finds evil, Minari finds love struggling to survive impossible circumstances.

But Quiet and intimate where Devil is Gothic. It's also genuinely hopeful, which is tonal whiplash if you're looking for unrelenting darkness.