Weekend Watch: The Devil All The Time And Criminal Season 2
Crime and punishment
Image Credit: Netflix
Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, in which I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, Tom Holland tackles danger and darkness in the deep south for The Devil All The Time and the Criminal team face four new cases as the drama returns for Season 2.
If you’re after something cheery and uplifting during these dark pandemic times, I would honestly suggest watching anything other than Antonio Campos’ tale of cancer, crime, chicken livers and crazy religious types.
Adapting Donald Ray Pollock’s multi-generational novel (with the author providing an intrusive narration dotted throughout the plot), Devil’s story is ostensibly the story of Arvin Russell (Tom Holland), who suffers through the death of both of his parents at the age of nine and, seven years later, adopts his father’s policy of dishing out rough justice to wrongdoers. The film jumps around in time between two main periods, and checks in on a number of stories, mostly humanity at its worst. There’s Jason Clarke and Riley Keough as Carl and Sandy, who make a habit of picking up hitchhikers and murdering them after (or before) taking morbidly staged photos. Robert Pattinson pops up halfway through as a creepy preacher who preys on the troubled Leonora (Eliza Scanlan), a fellow orphan who is the closest thing Arvin has to a sister, and who happens to be the daughter of the ill-fated previous preacher. Who is played, to no small amusement, by Harry Melling, AKA Dudley Dursley from the Harry Potter movies. The constant, choppy cutting between different plot strands does it few favours, making it that much hard to care amidst all the misery on display.
And make no mistake – one or two genuine displays of human kindness aside, this is an unremittingly bleak drama, anchored by solid performances from its cast. Holland shows just what a good actor he is, in a turn that is worlds away from his sunny, enthusiastic turn as Peter Parker (though all that fight training occasionally pays off here too). Pattinson does a lot with a relatively thin role, and Bill Skarsgard takes the chance to shine early on as Arvin’s dad. The other half of the cast fare less well, mostly portrayed as victims, suckers or doting maternal figures.
The cast works as hard as they can to lift the film above its dark ambitions, but the drama is as southern-fried (or Mid-Western fried) as the chicken livers. Judicious editing might have improved matters, with more than one storyline feeling surplus to requirements. Strictly one for those who like their movies loaded with melodrama and murder.
The Devil All The Time is on Netflix now.
Image Credit: Netflix
Criminal also explores the darker sides of life, but on a very different scale, and to far more entertaining effect. Following on from the success of last year’s first season, this marks the return of the police interrogation team led by Katherine Kelly’s Hobbs, Lee Ingleby’s Myerscough, Rochenda Sandall’s Warren and the rest.
This time around, we have the likes of Kit Harington (and in this case, it appears that Jon Snow really does know something), Sophie Okonedo, Sharon Horgan and Kunal Nayyar. Each case is different – some of the people being interviewed are not accused of anything (at first), while others are key parts of an ongoing investigation. Cleverly twisting the knife each time, series creators Jim Field Smith and George Kay keep you guessing, wondering how the story will unfurl. Expectations are dashed, twists handled with aplomb and great actors are given a chance to tackle roles that we’re not used to seeing them fill. Especially Nayyar, best known to most audiences as the neurotic Raj on The Big Bang Theory.
Unfolding in the style of a play, with limited locations and the emphasis on dramatic conversations, Criminal is always fascinating, and even if you like your police dramas with a side of car chases and fistfights, you’ll find something to enjoy in the verbal sparring.
And the beauty of the format here is that while the investigations are the focus of each episode, the personal and professional lives of the officers are weaved into small moments around the main drama. A burgeoning office romance here, a battle with confidence issues there, all adding up to a much more layered set of characters. There are internal politics at play, ticking clocks and stress on our heroes as they figure out the truth of the people on the other side of the table.
Of this season’s episodes, it’s hard to pick a favourite, though the one figuring Harington is loaded with tension, the actor proving he’s more than just Game Of Thrones’ Snow.
Building on the promise that the first season showed, this new run cranks up the drama, but never loses what makes the show work. The one downside? There are only four episodes – though the series has sibling shows set in France, Spain and Germany (all shot at the same studio complex), there is no indication yet on when the others will return.
Criminal: United Kingdom is on Netflix now.