this is a really good movie for netflix. director antonio campos (after-school, simon killer) was able to get two very popular actors for this movie. on one hand tom holland, who left his spider-man outfit at the coat rack here, alongside the batman suit of robert pattinson, an actor who is in the center of attention at the moment. movie summary in short, the story takes place in the countryside of southern ohio and west virginia and follows a cast of compelling and bizarre characters from the end of world war ii to the 1960s. there's willard russell, (bill skarsgård), a troubled veteran who has returned from the carnage in the south pacific, and his beautiful wife, charlotte (haley bennett), who is not to be saved from an agonizing death by cancer no matter how much sacrificial blood he has in his prayer diary. there is carl (jason clarke) and sandy henderson (riley keough), a kind of bonny & clyde killer gang, who make the american highways unsafe in search of suitable models to photograph and exterminate. and there is also the preacher roy (harry melling) who believes in god and his wife helen (mia wasikowska). he is accompanied by his crippled virtuoso guitar-playing sidekick, theodore (pokey lafarge), who is fleeing from the law. and in the midst of all this is arvin eugene russell (tom holland), the orphan of willard and charlotte, who grew up to be a good but also violent man. and one day he crosses the path of another preacher (robert pattinson) who looks like a wolf in sheep's clothing. it's a film based of a novel by donald ray pollock, and for those of you who know the author, i'm sure you'll know what kind of genre this film is. it's an ensemble movie where every actor gets his moment, although i might have given some characters a little more screen time, but you always do with that kind of movie. the film is a twisted cocktail of religious storylines mixed with violence, murder and corruption over a period of 20 years. the best stories always take place in a short period of time from a few hours to a few days, but this story does work in this format. the film records a number of damaged souls seeking the meaning of life or seeking hope and redemption and influenced by a collection of preachers, charlatans and psychopaths. the screenplay was written by paulo campos, the director's brother, and it is a rather successful translation of this gloomy gothic melodrama. the brothers create an exciting and enchanting atmosphere in a rural and threatening environment. but the greatest asset is of course the handsome performances of the cast, all combined with rich cinematography by lol crawley. but also in this picture, pattinson – as with tenet (2020) – steals the show with an abhorrent performance as a slimy, selfish preacher who seeks to ruin the lives of teenage girls for kicks. in addition, clarke's performances as the sweaty psychopath and holland as the violent, skeptical young man are really great. final words it's a movie full of sentiment and emotional turmoil, and these actors have really been enjoying themselves in these roles. the movie takes 138 minutes, but i can't say it's ever gonna be boring. the tone remains constricting and tense and you just want to know what will happen to all those colorful characters, even though we descend into a dark world of violence and deception. you can't ignore the fact that this film is targeting faith, but i've rarely seen a film that did it so effectively.