In Antonio Campos’s The Devil All the Time, the title speaks for itself with the direction the film starts with once the film begins. The Devil All the Time is chronological with a set of sinister scenarios that impacts one another throughout the film’s timeline. Campos’s theme of religion is the dark and unsettling concept of The Devil All the Time. What makes the film more mesmerizing is the characters that can portray sinister elements. The sinister elements will bring many unexpected surprises.

The Devil All the Time takes place in the rural areas of Ohio and West Virginia. The era is also at the end of World War II around the 1960s. The film introduces us to a variety of twisted characters set after World War II. The film introduces us to Willard Russell (played by Bill Skarsgard), a veteran that is having psychological problems and has a wife that is on the verge of death due to cancer. From there, there is Carl and Sandy Henderson (played by Jason Clarke and Riley Keough), a couple that are serial killers that act as photographers and find people to pose for photos and then they demolish them. A preacher named Roy (played Harry Melling) and his sidekick Theodore (played by Pokey Lafarge) running from the law. A new pastor with a dark side is now a part of the church and he is Preston (played Robert Pattinson). The one though that is the main character in front of all this is Arvin Russell (played by Tom Holland). Arvin is one that grows to be mature, but from his past and having a psychotic father, he is known to have violence in his own self. As he comes to realize the outcomes in his life due to corruption, he grows to put the pieces together and take risks in his own hands.

The Devil All the Time has tons of psychotic characters, but many are just thrown in rather quickly. I felt the new sinister characters were off-putting when they were introduced. Examples of this would be the weird scenarios coming up after the characters being in the film for a generous amount of time for its viewers to have an idea of them. Also, a random murder would just come around out of the blue, when I thought the focus was one or two other elements. Therefore, I felt I had to back track from time to time of why a character decides to be insane. The murders may come up at inconvenient moments, but the acting is superb. Especially with the tension between Holland and Patterson. Both have evil sides that create the tone to expect evil judgment towards one another to happen. Another element that adds to the psychotic behaviors, the undefined murders, and disturbing personalities is religion. That is because many of the characters are insane, but also religious. That made me realize that they feel their beliefs of evil is good, which it is not, and that is why The Devil All the Time challenges the mindsets of its characters.

The Devil All the Time left me with questions. I was also left wondering why the characters made scary choices, but also wondering how it links to their past. That is why I said earlier, some of the unexpected violence was off-putting, because I still ask myself what drives the crazy of some in the film. Regardless of its unprecedented timing, The Devil all the Time is worthy of a viewing. The acting, the cinematography, and the setting all fits to be a ride of terror, tension, political, and a twist of religious beliefs. Three stars for The Devil All the Time.

This is one of those films where I thought it was going to be just a disaster thriller. However, Those Who Wish Me Dead is (moderately) entertaining. The film is like a 90s thriller where the concept seems original and has unexpected outcomes and plot twists. Director Taylor Sheridan has the approach of a hunting trail as he did with his previous thriller Wind River (2017). I liked Wind River a little more than Those Who Wish Me Dead, because of its setting and originality. Those Who Wish Me Dead is a bit of a mess, but a captivating ride.

Those Who Wish Me Dead gears on Connor (played by Finn Little), a boy who is a murder witness after his father dies in front of him. His father is assassinated Patrick and Jack (played by Nicholas Hoult and Aiden Gillen). Despite the death of Connor’s father, Connor is the target to assassinate next and he ends up stranded in a forest of treacherous forest fires. He finds hope for his chances of survival when he meets Hannah (played by Angelina Jolie). Hannah is an expert of nature survival and takes the safety of Connor into her own hands. The conflict though is there is limited resources, authorities, scattered forest fires and Patrick and Jack are on the trail to find Connor despite the dangers.

Those Who Wish Me Dead had me in moments to being curious towards which portions of forest nature can benefit Connor and Hannah. That is because throughout the film they find themselves needing to find alternatives for their safety as they continue to make it to safety. Those moments were visually enthralling because of the shifting of the forest conditions and the unexpected dangerous attacks that happen both with the assassins and with the forest. I found myself hoping the forest conditions would worsen to put more danger towards Patrick and Jack so Connor can survive. The game of Tetris for survival is critical in Those Who Wish Me Dead.

I felt this film was realistic because of its nature setting. I find that conflicts that can occur in real-life are more visually captivating in these disaster movies. Especially with the other disadvantage of little to no signal to reach for help technologically. That puts the protagonists and the antagonists to think of their conflicts logistically. That is where the chance of survival starts to make Those Who Wish Me Dead extraordinary in many moments of the forest fires and the hunting of the protagonists. Get ready for a nature battles and enemy battles.

Overall, Those Who Wish Me Dead was way better than I expected. The premise was chilling, and the structure was setup properly to follow along with the suspense. Still predictable in fragments, but still a fun and daring ride of craziness. I had a fun time with Those Who Wish Me Dead. Three stars.

Spiral (original title Spiral: The Book of Saw) is a part of the Saw franchise that has become somewhat predictable. The director is Darren Lynn Bousman who also directed Saw II (2005), Saw III (2006), and Saw IV (2007). I enjoyed those Saw films despite their redundancy. I feel the same way about Spiral because of the cleverness of the murder trail and the way the clock ticks until someone’s fate of survival is tested. This film has grade A actors ranging from Chris Rock, Samuel L. Jackson to Max Minghella. I found the humor displayed by Rock’s character to be where Spiral provides entertaining shock value, even though the film has a repetitive structure like other Saw films made since 2004.

Chris Rock is Det. Zeke Banks who is working after his father, Marcus (Samuel L. Jackson), a police veteran is off the force. Banks is a detective with his own set of personal problems in his life and in his career. His career becomes more haunting as he is partnered with another detective, William Schenk, to unfold a murder that happens in a subway system. What starts to happen is the same symbol from a previous crime scene keeps showing up for Banks and Schenk. Then more people who fall into the hands of this grisly murderer start to die one by one. The victims have a chance to survive, but their fate is tested, and so is the faith of detective Banks as the murderous trail starts to link back to him and his family. The question of the murderer is if it’s someone that Banks already knows or someone outside his world who only goes after those who have sinned.

As the film progressed, it still felt repetitive given the approach is the same as how other Saw movie begin. The sequence begins with a murder or a death, and then a deadly trail of puzzles and questions with little to no time to save the victims. These dark elements were entertaining due to Rock, Jackson, and Minghella.  While we have seen these famous actors for years in all kinds of movies, the only one who has done dark films on this level is Jackson. For Rock and Minghella, they take their performances to a different level than what their fans are used to.

I give Spiral’s directorcredit for keeping its shock and scare momentum, but I still feel it is too much like the previous Saw films. There is a plus side to the torture and twist elements, and that is the messages they leave for the fans. Specifically, the message is that the trail is not over yet. Therefore, the fans can expect more mystery and suspense in the future. Of course, many Saw fans are just anxiously awaiting more torture scenes.

Overall, I experienced some fun moments with Spiral. I was disappointed that I was not taken by surprise as much as I has anticipated. While enjoyable, it is not a film I would watch many times. I hope if there are more Saw films down the line, that the puzzles have me think more. Two and a half stars.