The Devil All The Time, 2020 (The Devil Is The Devil All The Time) is a film by Antonio Campos in the genre of American Gothic. The action begins in Ohio in 1957, then moves to 1965 in West Virginia. The period between the two wars. The American hinterland of the Southern States with towns of a thousand or two inhabitants, where on weekdays everyone works from morning to night, and on Sunday they go to church. From such a life, some individuals are directly Satanized. The script of the film is based on the 2011 novel of the same name by Donald Ray Pollock.
Attention! The review may reveal the content of the film.
The Devil Is Always The Devil All the Time is a psychological thriller, it gives another look at the dark nature of man. The devil is the antithesis of all that is good in people. In almost all the adult characters of this film, the Devil is present. The exception is the kids, as well as the grandmother and uncle of the main character – ordinary righteous people, of whom there are a minority. There’s a good cop, there’s a bad cop, he’s the sheriff. Willard Russell returned home from World War II, of course with PTSD and started a family. He tries to find God in his soul, but the tragedies of life make him interpret the Holy Scriptures in his own way and see the will of the Lord in a completely different way. The most painful thing is to see how their children suffer from the follies of adults.
"Why don't you sit down and have a drink with me, my dear?"
Philistines and criminals. Priests and parishioners. Righteous and sinners. The boy Arvin became an angel of vengeance, a weapon in the hands of the Lord. Murderers get their way in the end, also from the killer. Quite on merit. It’s even joyful. These dogmas can be understood only in comparison. Deception is bad, but a lie for salvation is possible. Murder is disgusting, but when they want to kill you, then killing those who intend to do it is the only possible option. Of course, you can appear as a lamb at the slaughter, but this is not an option for the young and hot, who have their whole life ahead of them. First comes the instinct of self-preservation, then religious dogmas. Even a young man who deeply believes in God understands with all his mind that he must do exactly that, and not otherwise. I hope we all do the same in a similar situation, otherwise we will not forgive ourselves.
In a cameo role, Pokey LaFarge. He also plays the guitar and sings a song.
They don’t talk openly about the Devil somehow, someone talks about God and even on his behalf, and that’s why it’s even more vile. It turns out that those who are vested with power in the real world (the police, the church) are unworthy of such a function and are not righteous people, even though they pretend to be them. And the one who does not have such power turns out to be a much greater righteous man, but the power was given to him by his father’s front-line luger.
Reverend Preston Tigardin
Download or listen to the movie soundtrack
Of course, the police do not work at such a speed. So quickly they figured out the boy. And even the sheriff, who has personal motives, can’t move that fast. But this is a movie, there is a place for such an assumption. It is not a movie for an easy pastime, and it is better to watch it alone. Despite the fact that the Devil is Always The Devil All the Time – the film is cruel and gloomy, it still does not leave a painful impression, it has an idea of choice, that you can prefer light to darkness and turn off the crooked track in time.
