“Devil” is a 2010 American supernatural thriller film directed by John Erick Dowdle and written by Brian Nelson. The film stars Chris Messina, Logan Marshall-Green, Geoffrey Arend, Bojana Novakovic, and Bokeem Woodbine. The film was produced by M. Night Shyamalan and distributed by Universal Pictures.
The film tells the story of five people who are trapped in an elevator with the Devil. The film was shot entirely in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
“Devil” is a well-crafted and suspenseful thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The five main characters are all well-developed and the acting is top-notch. The film’s pacing is perfect, and the tension builds nicely. The ending is both surprising and satisfying.
This is the latest movie based on an M. Night Shyamalan Novel, a story about a group of seemingly unconnected people stuck in an elevator with the Devil. It’s a difficult movie to sum up without giving away too much but suffice to say it’s up to a couple of cops and some security guys to get the folks out of the elevator before the Devil (who is disguised as one of them) has his way and kills them all, presumably taking them to Hell with him.
This has to be one of the better Shyamalan movies that I’ve seen. To be frank, I’m not a massive fan of movies based on his works, but Devil is a strong, tense and utterly suspenseful watch from beginning to end. It’s difficult to imagine how a whole movie could be made based around a group stuck in an elevator. Things should get monotonous, but it doesn’t, thankfully there is enough variation in the settings to keep things from getting bogged down.
The acting strength is good, most of the characters are fleshed out decently and there are some good twists along the way as far as characters are concerned. Of course one of the biggest mysteries of the movie is: who’s the Devil? This isn’t revealed until the end and unlike past Shyamalan stories this one actually has quite a decent ending. Bojana Novokovic’s portrayal of the young women stands out in my opinion, she really helps to bring out the terror in her character and in doing so helps the movie to no end. Though, there’s nobody I’d say that puts in a bad performance, all pretty solid.
Gore is light, there’s no ‘euch’ moments in this movie at all, it plays for frights and suspense and it does it really quite well. There’s a great sense of dread that permeates when the lights go out because you know something nasty is going on and you won’t find out what until the lights come back. In this regard Devil can’t be faulted.
The pacing of the movie is decent, not too slow and not too fast, the characters are fleshed out well and the frights are great so ultimately I’m going to give this one a strong recommendation. Unless your a hardcore atheist you should enjoy this movie.
Overall, “Devil” is a great supernatural thriller that is sure to keep you entertained. It is well-written, well-acted, and well-paced. I highly recommend it.
Synopsis
The movie opens with a group of people in an elevator: saleswoman Leigh, security guard Larry, office worker John, and a pregnant woman named Sarika. The elevator suddenly stops and the lights go out. The group starts to panic, and John pries the doors open to find that they are stuck between the first and second floors of the building.
While the group tries to figure out what to do, they start to notice strange things happening in the elevator. The temperature drops, the lights flicker, and they hear strange noises. The group starts to suspect that there is something supernatural going on, and they start to turn on each other.
As the tension mounts, the elevator suddenly drops and the group is plunged into darkness. When the lights come back on, they find that Sarika has been brutally murdered. The group starts to panic and Larry goes into a hysterical fit.
Leigh tries to take control of the situation and starts to question the group about what could have happened. John suggests that Sarika was killed by a demon, and Leigh starts to believe him. The group decides to use the elevator to go back up to the penthouse in order to find a way out.
When they get to the penthouse, they find that it is empty. Leigh and John start to explore the apartment, and they find a strange symbol on the wall. Suddenly, the lights go out and the group is attacked by a demon. Larry is killed and Leigh is seriously injured. John manages to kill the demon, but Leigh is in a coma.
John is left alone in the penthouse, and he starts to piece together what has happened. He realizes that the demon is after Sarika’s baby, and he decides to go back down to the elevator in order to try and save the child.
When he gets back to the elevator, he finds that the demon has already taken the baby. He starts to chase after the demon, but he is too late. The demon disappears and John is left alone in the building with the dead bodies of his friends.
Movie Details
Director: John Erick Dowdle
Writer: Brian Nelson
Actors: Chris Messina, Logan Marshall-Green, Geoffrey Arend
Release Year: 2010