The Devil All The Time Review: 7 Ups & 3 Downs

Downs...

3. The Unnecessary Narration

The film is framed by voiceover narration from none other than the novel's author himself, Donald Ray Pollock, and while Pollock's gravelly voice certainly evokes a Southern fried vibe, the narration as written ultimately feels a bit excessive and, dare one say, pointless.

Though the narration isn't frequent or intrusive enough to truly irritate, it does make too much of an effort to tell the audience everything the characters are doing or thinking, rather than simply letting viewers think on it for themselves.

Given that the plot isn't terribly complicated despite its penchant for time-hopping, there really wasn't any need for Pollock to interrupt the airy atmosphere and make sure the audience is keeping up.

It's hardly a deal-breaker, but also feels like the sort of unnecessary flourish which would've been added in post-production at the request of a traditional studio. With this being a Netflix movie, though, that's presumably not the case.