You have to admire a film like "The Devil All the Time" for committing so hard to being a thoroughly uncomfortable piece of work, even though it's not always successful. Directed by Antonio Campos, who also co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Paulo Campos, it tells the story of a group of characters in the post-War American midwest, mostly from small rural communities in Ohio and West Virginia. Terrible things happen to them, thanks to tribalism, religion, and poverty, and cycles of violence are shown to progress from one generation to the next.
What's notable about "The Devil All the Time" is that it gives several up-and-coming actors a chance to sink their teeth into some high octane melodrama. At first, our central character is Willard Russell (Bill Skarsgård), who returns from WWII and marries Charlotte (Haley Bennett). We also meet two other couples, the evangelical preacher Roy (Harry Melling) and his wife Helen (Mia Wasikowska), and a photographer named Carl (Jason Clarke) who marries Sandy (Riley Keough), the sister of a police officer, Lee Bodecker (Sebastian Stan). Eventually the story shifts to focus on Willard and Charlotte's son Arvin (Tom Holland) and Roy and Helen's daughter Lenora (Eliza Scanlen) when they're teenagers. Finally, the most colorful and memorable performance of the lot belongs to Robert Pattinson, playing the scumbag Reverend Teagarden.
Based on a novel by Donald Ray Pollock, who also serves as the film's garrulous narrator, this is not a viewing experience that I would recommend to most people. It's a lengthy family epic that has a lot of brutal violence against women, and forces the viewer to spend a lot of time with some really reprehensible people. Campos is very good at making every frame feel suitably miserable and desperate, often soaking in the depressive atmosphere. Some of the most upsetting material features no violence at all, such as Reverend Teagarden's antics with a plate of chicken livers. On the other hand, I did enjoy many of the performances and I appreciated that the filmmakers followed every piece of this miserable history through to the end. While the oppressive darkness of the film is relentless and sometimes over-the-top, neither does it feel implausible or out of place. Clearly it's not a film for everyone, and I can't say I enjoyed it, but I respect everything it took to get it made.
Now, for a story about violence in an insular community of a different stripe, I can heartily recommend "Blow the Man Down." This is a film noir that takes place in a New England fishing village, and nearly all the major players are women. Directed by Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy, the story follows the Connolly sisters Mary Beth (Morgan Saylor) and Priscilla (Sophie Lowe) who are dealing with the aftermath of their mother's death. Mary Beth accidentally kills a man named Gorski (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), which gets them tangled up in a different murder, and the machinations of the town madam, Enid Devlin (Margo Martindale). Other characters include a trio of local matrons (June Squibb, Annette O'Toole, and Marceline Hugot), the suspicious Officer Coletti (Skipp Sudduth), and one of Enid's employees, Alexis (Gayle Rankin)
I take so much joy from watching actresses who are usually playing moms and grandmas essentially in the mobster roles of your usual detective murder mystery. Secret dealings are couched in very feminine terms, but are still deadly serious. Tonally, we're often operating in the realm of the Coen brothers, or perhaps Martin McDonagh. There's a Greek chorus of fisherman, who sing sea shanties during the act breaks, and one confrontation is sparked by a dress code violation. During the second act, where Officer Coletti is going around conducting interviews, one of the matrons totally stonewalls him, and sends him off with a nice slice of pie. However, the Connolly sisters are more grounded, realistic heroines who are easy to root for and empathize with.
"Blow the Man Down" is low budget and takes a while to get going. However, once all the pieces are on the board, the tension and thrills are executed beautifully. I have a few quibbles with technical shortcomings, common to the efforts of first-time directors, but the film was really a great surprise and a significant mood-lifter after sitting through "The Devil All the Time." I hope it finds a bigger audience.
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