WARNING: Major spoilers for The Devil All The Time 

Antonio Campos' The Devil All The Time is a psychological thriller that explores themes of violence, inherited darkness, the perils of blind faith, and murder in small town America. The movie's ending, though simple, prompts a greater discussion about the many themes that persist in The Devil All The Time, as well as what it all means.

Based on the 2011 novel of the same name by Donald Ray Pollock, The Devil All The Time is a slow-burn, character-driven narrative that's reminiscent of Stephen King's less supernaturally-driven stories, such as The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption. A standout cast of major, A-list Hollywood names such as Robert Pattinson, Tom Holland, Sebastian Stan, Riley Keough, Bill Skarsgård, Jason Clarke, and Mia Wasikowska bolster the large ensemble. Pollock's novel functions as a series of connected stories that all center around the real life town of Knockemstiff, Ohio. The rural Midwest in post-World War II America paints a harrowing portrait of the little town's dirty secrets and ongoing troubles, especially when a mysterious—and dangerous—preacher comes to lead the local parish.

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The Devil All The Time employs a dual timeline that follows Arvin Russell (Michael Banks Repeta), who was traumatized as a young boy by his mother Charlotte's (Haley Bennett) death and its effect on his father, Willard (Skarsgård), who turned to God for answers. Willard carried demons of his own after witnessing a brutal scene during his time serving overseas in the military. In a way, he brought the devil home with him; his ongoing struggles to contend with his mental health and his wife's illness pushed him over the edge. This led him to sacrifice himself as an exchange for his wife's life—though it might have also been a tragic suicide. The secondary timeline shows Arvin as an adult (Holland) taking up a vigilante mantle of sorts as he tries to save the town from corruption while struggling with demons of his own. The Devil All The Time relies on careful storytelling that doesn't leave a lot of questions about the surrounding narrative, but does prompt questions about the different characters' motivations.

What's Wrong With Willard (Was He Possessed?)

The Devil All The Time Bill Skarsgard and on screen son pray at his wife's grave

The beginning of The Devil All The Time shows Willard Russell settling back to his normal life in Knockemstiff after he's returned from the war. In the war, he—as many soldiers experience—saw a man who appeared to be crucified. This likely was what set off a number of his greater questions about religion, which were exacerbated when he witnessed a preacher dumping a jar of spiders on himself during a sermon and promising that God would heal his fear and save him from anything that he previously thought would do him harm. This is an important crux of Willard's character; he has come to depend on God exclusively as the answer to all his problems. Though he seems to find peace for a while with his new wife, Charlotte, and after the birth of his young son, Arvin, Willard builds a cross in the woods—a makeshift altar—and often goes there with Arvin to pray.

However, the way Willard utilizes prayer isn't necessarily the positive experience that those who adopt the practice tend to feel it is. In his attempts to speak to God, he seems desperate, and there's clearly more to his ongoing internal struggle that is initially let on. He's prone to commit random acts of violence, he scares his son by forcibly making him pray at the altar with him, and even sacrifices his son's dog to see if its life can be traded to heal his wife's illness. When it doesn't, he ups the stakes and kills himself on the altar. This behavior—as well as Arvin's comment that his father "saw the devil all the time", a nod to the movie's title—might lead to question whether he's literally possessed.

Likely, this isn't the case; it's more a metaphor for one's personal demons and struggles. Willard was very likely suffering from PTSD, and the stress of his wife being ill, the grief following her death, and the fears of being a good husband and father likely got to him in the end. However, symbolically, Willard's return from the war does set off a chain of events in Knockemstiff that are all linked to violence, which could prompt questions as to whether the town is cursed or Willard brought something more than just personal demons back home. Campos employs a lot of metaphor in his story, and the events—while grim and unfortunate—are likely meant to be taken literally, as human struggles rather than some greater supernatural interference.

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Why Is Arvin A Vigilante?

During Arvin's childhood, he witnesses his father brutally beating up a man for no apparent reason. It becomes an impromptu lessons where Willard explains to Arvin that he has to learn how to take care of himself, and essentially implies that some matters are better taken into one's own hands. Arvin clearly takes this lesson literally, and after he grows up, he becomes fixated on what he "has to do", which often ends violently. After the new preacher in town, Preston Teagardin (Pattison), sexually assaults Lenora (Eliza Scanlen)—a young woman who became like a sister to Arvin—he goes off to exact a personal brand of justice. Arvin leaves a note to his family explaining not to look for him, and essentially asking their forgiveness for what he is about to do. Since Preston's relations with Lenora resulted in her pregnancy and subsequent suicide, Arvin also possibly feels there's little else that can be done to bring her justice. He ends up murdering Preston, which leads to several other violent encounters where Arvin kills Carl and Sandy (Clarke and Keough)—a serial killer couple—and then Sheriff Bodecker (Stan), who is tied to the town's underlying corruption.

Prior to this, Arvin showed a penchant for violence when he beat up young men who were also bullying and harassing Lenora in town; he was savage with his actions, and went far beyond just teaching them a lesson or trying to protect his family. It's clear that the residual trauma he experienced as a boy, along with his father's lesson that violence is often the answer—especially since Arvin learned God wasn't the answer—to his problems took a toll on Arvin. Arvin's actions, which are played out brilliantly by Holland, prove one of the movie's main themes, which is that violence is cyclical, often inescapable, and can be passed down like a family legacy.

Arvin essentially inherited his father's demons, and while they manifested differently, they were both born in sudden, meaningless violence and nurtured in a deep-seated, core belief system. Willard's beliefs were fully connected to his faith and God; Arvin seemed to rely on himself and his shaky ethics. In the movie's ending, he is heading out of Knockemstiff, and seems to have a weight lifted off his shoulders, as if he's managed to convince himself that he has single-handedly rid his hometown of corruption and the devil—what the movie doesn't show is whether he'll retire from his vigilante ways, or just go on to continue in another town where he feels there are people who are in need of saving. The radio broadcast in the movie's final scene suggests Arvin might join the military—the Vietnam War—thus repeating the cycle of violence originated by his father.

How Do The Serial Killers Fit Into Knockemstiff's Story?

Riley Keough and Jason Clarke in The Devil All The Time

Carl and Sandy may seem misplaced in the greater narrative of Knockemstiff's story and The Devil All The Time's plot, but they really are connected. The couple—both serial killers—drive home another of the movie's biggest themes: the devil is everywhere. Though they are from a neighboring town, Mead, and not Knockemstiff, they meet in the same diner where Willard meets his wife, Charlotte, on the very same day. This could be coincidence, or another clever metaphor to suggest that darkness is hiding around every corner, even where good is transpiring simultaneously. Just as Willard meets the love of his life, Carl and Sandy find kindred spirits in each other. Carl is a photographer looking for a subject; Sandy provides that to him, and more. He and Sandy end up luring in their victims by picking up hitchhikers, then Sandy convinces them to pose in scandalous pictures with her before the photoshoot turns macabre, with their victims being positioned and photographed post-mortem.

As Pollock's novel is written in parts, each following a different character or aspect of the greater story, it makes sense that Carl and Sandy would feel slightly detached. Even so, The Devil All The Time fits them into the movie's plot not as an afterthought—though it does feel that way, at times—but a way of showing that the world outside of Knockemstiff is just as senselessly violent, with corruption transpiring even beyond Arvin's reach. In the end, nobody in The Devil All The Time is a hero; they may think that their methods and behaviors are somehow connected to a greater purpose, but it's just not true. At the end of the day, they're all just looking for something to believe in, and more often than not, the movie's characters will do whatever it takes to find their own definition of enlightenment, success, or personal fulfillment, which the movie proves is too often a dangerous state of being.

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