All the Devils Are Here
Barnaby Roper's crime drama doesn't break the mould, but its excellent performances from the likes of Eddie Marsan, Rory Kinnear and Sam Claflin make this zippy thriller very much worth your while
Barnaby Roper's entry into the British crime drama canon is less concerned with the actual act of crime and more with its fallout – and it's all the better for it. All the Devils Are Here follows four criminals reporting to impeccably styled mob boss Harold Laing (Rory Kinnear). Ronnie Blake (Eddie Marsan) is in charge, but a senseless act of violence by Grady (Sam Claflin) turns a routine robbery into a riskier affair. Consequently, the quartet – Blake, Grady, the eccentric narcoleptic Numbers (Burn Gorman), and the nervous novice Royce (Tienne Simon) – must lie low in the countryside until Laing sends word. What should be a mere few days turns into a seemingly endless purgatory, and in a run-down house with little to do and little love for one another, tempers flare and old wounds fester.
Roper’s first feature film can lean towards the over-literal in storytelling, signposting its characters’ journeys with copious flashbacks and match cuts, but it is hard to hate the over-stylish when it so explicitly and lovingly relishes the Shakespearean roots of its title. Marsan, adept at playing more genteel types, wholly convinces as a career criminal, and makes for an excellent straight man amid his more volatile companions. A palpable sense of danger and claustrophobia pervades all interactions, lending credibility as each screw tightens and the code that binds the men to each other and their boss begins to fray.
All the Devils Are Here does not redefine the crime genre, but its tight pacing and terrific performances make its 85 minutes a fantastic ride.
Released 26 Sep on VOD by Paramount; certificate 15