The film tells the story of Collins (Milo Gibson, Breaking & Exiting), a battle weary ‘bounty hunter’ sent to London to track down a rogue CIA agent, McKnight (Elliot Cowan, Krypton), who is about to make a deal to purchase nuclear weapons by a Russian criminal organisation. Recruited by the CIA agent Leigh (Sylvia Hoeks, Blade Runner 2049), along with the disillusioned veteran Brennan (William Fichtner, Entourage) and the charismatic and unapologetic Samuelson (Gbenga Akinnagbe, The Deuce), he goes head-to-head with a former special forces friend (Joseph Millson, Casino Royale), who has switched sides and is now working for the highest bidder.
Moving from the warm and sandy Marrakesh to a very gritty London, from past mistakes to present betrayals, All the Devil’s Men keeps its momentum going throughout the whole film without gratuitous violence or unnecessary machismo.
Director Matthew Hope masterfully crafts the relentless but never repetitive action sequences and the cast is strong: Milo Gibson gives his Collins – a former Navy Seal haunted by his past, addicted to “go pills” and unable to embrace his future and his family – a touch of complexity and a gritty morality who drives him into making very human decisions and very human mistakes. Cowan is an icy villain, Millson an interesting greedy double-faced “wannabe villain”, and Millson and Akinnagbe play strong counterparts to Gibson’s character, with dark humour and charisma.
Initially appearing like a fair and square straightforward plot, the film takes the necessary turns to keep the attention up, and it’s able to lightly criticise some notorious heroic action movie stereotypes while at it: whereas Collins is a man of principle who keeps questioning his past as operative and the meaning of his job, what really moves the characters is money and interest; Hope wisely avoids long heroic and patriotic monologues about “saving people” and the “Greater Good”, Mission Impossible-esque unrealistic explosions and stunts, to make space for disillusioned, tired and disenchanted characters who left their dreams of saving the world far behind.
Once you realise nobody really cares about you risking your life for The Nation (whatever Nation you’re working for) – the film seems to suggest – what really moves you is what you believe in: atonement, an old score to set, a brand-new God, or a brand-new roll of banknotes.
Action film written and directed by Matthew Hope (The Veteran, The Vanguard). All the Devil’s Men will be released on Digital Download Platforms from 3rd December.
VOD/EST Release Details:
Release Date: 3rd December Director: Matthew Hope
Cast: Milo Gibson, Sylvia Hoeks, Gbenga Akinnagbe (The Wire) & William Fichtner
Credit: The Movie Partnership
Genre: Action Thriller Cert: 15 (strong language, violence, references to sexual violence)
Running Time: 96 mins RRP: £7.99 SD, £9.99 HD
Release Platforms: iTunes, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Sky Store, BT, Sony, Vubiquity, Rakuten
iTunes preorder link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjMey5dw73c
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