The Devil All the Time

The Devil All the Time is a 2020 American Southern Gothic psychological crime thriller film directed by Antonio Campos, from a screenplay co-written with his brother Paulo, based on the novel of the same name by Donald Ray Pollock. The film follows several characters whose stories weave together in two Southern Ohio towns during the period from the end of World War II to the 1960s. It features an ensemble cast that includes Tom Holland, Bill Skarsgård, Riley Keough, Jason Clarke, Sebastian Stan, Haley Bennett, Eliza Scanlen, Mia Wasikowska, and Robert Pattinson. The Devil All the Time was released in select theaters on September 11, 2020, and on Netflix on September 16, 2020. It received polarizing reviews from critics, who praised the performances (particularly Holland and Pattinson) but were critical of the film's length and dark tone. Plot During World War II, while serving in the Solomon Islands, U.S. Marine Willard Russell finds Gunnery Sergeant Miller Jones skinned and crucified by Japanese soldiers. Willard ends Jones's agony by shooting him behind the ear. After the war, on his way home to Coal Creek, West Virginia, Willard passes through Meade, Ohio, where he meets Charlotte, a waitress at a diner, and a photographer named Carl Henderson. Willard and Charlotte marry and move to Knockemstiff, Ohio, where they have a son, whom they name Arvin. In 1950, Helen Hatton marries Roy Laferty. Roy is a bizarre, albeit charismatic, evangelical preacher who pours venomous spiders over his head while giving sermons to demonstrate his faith in God. Helen and Roy have a daughter named Lenora. During a sermon, Roy is bitten by a spider on his face and has a severe allergic reaction that affects his grip on reality and he comes to believe that he has the ability to resurrect the dead. Roy takes Helen out in the woods and stabs her in the neck with a screwdriver before trying and failing to resurrect her. A distraught Roy hitchhikes and is picked up by Carl Henderson and his wife Sandy. Carl and Sandy are revealed to be serial killers who pick up male hitchhikers and encourage them to have sex with Sandy while Carl takes photographs before murdering them. Roy refuses to have sex with Sandy but Carl shoots and kills him anyway.