A moody drama about four criminals laying low in a house together, All the Devils Are Here is stylistically interesting but ultimately dull, never quite making the most of its talented cast.
Sam Claflin is one of those actors who can factor into my choosing to watch a movie. He is consistently likable, even when he isn’t playing a particularly likable character, and I’m always interested in what he’s doing next. From Philip in Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides to Finnick in The Hunger Games series, he’s great. And I didn’t particularly care for My Cousin Rachel, but he did everything he could within the bounds of his abilities (as did Rachel Weisz).
All The Devils Are Here is about four criminals who complete a heist with complications, and are ordered by the boss to wait at a safehouse together for the next week. Not particularly familiar with each other, and each with a wholly different personality and history, things begin to spiral as tensions rise.
This was a tedious movie to watch. It’s short, and it had the potential to pack a punch, but I found it extremely sluggish at times, and I checked how many minutes were left in the film more than once. That is never a good sign.
There are two highlights, though. The actors, including Sam Claflin and Eddie Marsan, do their jobs well. They are very different characters, and each holds your attention while they are on screen, but, unfortunately, a good performance can’t save a movie.
Visually, it is stylistically interesting. All The Devils Are Here is dark and brooding, with muted colors and lowly lit rooms. There are also nice additions, including visual narration of which day it is and cycling through each monotonous pattern of cooking the same meals, with flashes and sizzles.
The biggest issue here is that you are never engaged. The movie starts with the heist and an event that doesn’t go as planned, and then they reach the house quickly, but it never feels like it is going anywhere, because both figuratively and literally, they never go anywhere. There is no real hint as to what might be coming, and although you and they are waiting to hear from the boss, the time that passes feels very long and ambiguous.
By the time I reached the end and I could see the entire path, it was a hint more interesting, but it didn’t really matter. My thought was that if I had any idea where this was going or they had any way to keep the viewer engaged, I would care a lot more. As it was, I was pretty bored.
Runtime: 90 minutes
Motion Picture Rating: R
Languages Spoken In The Film: English
Should You Watch It? No
Did I Cry? Nope
My Rating: 1.75/5 Stars
Available: To rent on Prime Video or may be available for free on other streaming platforms
Sam Claflin is one of those actors who can factor into my choosing to watch a movie. He is consistently likable, even when he isn’t playing a particularly likable character, and I’m always interested in what he’s doing next. From Philip in Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides to Finnick in The Hunger Games series, he’s great. And I didn’t particularly care for My Cousin Rachel, but he did everything he could within the bounds of his abilities (as did Rachel Weisz).
