The Devil All the Time is an intoxicating shot of adrenaline from director Antonio Campos.
Set in the backwoods of Ohio at the end of World War II, it's a kaleidoscope of downtrodden
folk, predatory preachers, and a community ravaged by a faraway conflict.
You might have found your interest piqued by one familiar face in particular: Brother
Roy.
Roy is a traveling preacher and lost soul who appears willing to do anything for the
Lord, though the pressures of life on Earth turn him to a darker path.
So who is the man behind this morally gray Bible-thumper?
Roy is played by none other than Harry Melling.
And no, you're not suffering from...
"Delusions!"
There's a good chance you recognize him.
Fans of a certain age probably know him as Dudley Dursley from the Harry Potter franchise,
but he's so much more than that.
Here's why Roy from The Devil All The Time looks so familiar.
At 21 years old, Harry Melling was featured in the third season of The BBC's family-friendly
Merlin series.
Melling appeared as Gilli, a young man in possession of a powerful magical ring.
He travels to Camelot to appear in a tournament, using his special ring to get the better of
his opponents.
Of course, Merlin soon notices Gilli's magical ability to gain the upper hand in fights,
and gets concerned that there are greater powers at work than Gilli realizes.
However, Gilli revels in his early tournament successes, and continues using the ring even
though he could be putting his life in danger.
The episode is worth watching if for no other reason than to see the intensity that a young
Harry Melling brings to his role - proof that the actor was more than ready for impressive
appearances to come.
"It's time someone struck a blow for the likes of you and me.
And if you're too weak then I will."
The Lost City of Z begins in a simpler time...at least for the British aristocracy.
A half-decade before the first World War, England's colonial network dominates half
the globe, and consequently, English nobles think their society is the center of the universe.
These notions are challenged when a young Percy Fawcett returns from South America and
reports that Amazonian society may be older than their own, and may hide unimaginable
wealth.
Harry Melling doesn't play Percy Fawcett, but a fictional character by the name of William
Barclay.
Barclay doesn't believe in the secret city of riches and culture, and it's a point of
fact in his worldview that any people found living there would be inferior to members
of his English society of the early 20th century.
Both out-of-touch and humorously sympathetic, Melling plays his part with a subtle appreciation
for history.
Or at least, history as his character sees it.
"Now those fantasies lured the conquistadors to their destruction."
If you're looking for a unique and thoroughly enjoyable film, make sure to queue up The
Ballad of Buster Scruggs.
This masterwork by the Coen Brothers is a series of six unrelated short films, each
set in some corner of the American Old West mythos, and it's dripping with the Coens'
oddball sense of humor.
"Mm, first time?"
We've got Tom Waits as an unrelenting gold prospector in "All Gold Canyon," and Tim Blake
Nelson as the cheerfully deadly Buster Scruggs.
But it's Harry Melling as the "Artist" in "Meal Ticket" who had audiences staring in
shocked silence when the segment ended.
"Meal Ticket" shows Melling's incredible range.
He appears as Harrison, an actor with no arms or legs, who survives by delivering one-man
performances of classical works in a cheap traveling theater wagon.
Because the character is physically limited, Melling is forced to deliver the emotional
nuance of the material through only his face and voice.
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings.
Look on my works ye mighty, and despair."
You'll have to watch the film to find out how this theater tale resolves, but fair warning,
Melling's desperate performance is one that'll definitely stick with you.
You've heard never to stand between a bear and her cubs.
Well, the same holds true for a bear and his armor.
Harry Melling's Sysselman in the North learns this lesson the hard way in episode four of
His Dark Materials.
For those not acquainted with Philip Pullman's fantasy trilogy, the bear in question is Iorek,
an exiled bear king.
When he discovers that his armor is hidden beneath a priest's house, Iorek storms off
to recover it.
Sysselman tries to stop him, but Iorek isn't having it.
Though we don't see Melling's character again, the conflict he provides is a significant
turning point for the series.
Just as he did in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Melling's character manages to make a lasting
impression, though here he proves he can play a contemptible character just as well as a
sympathetic one.
2020's The Old Guard saw Melling, once again, on the wrong side of justice.
Melling plays Steven Merrick, the ultimate Pharma-bro.
When Merrick learns that there are immortals on Earth, he wants a piece of that genetic
action.
"These are extraordinary individuals.
They are extremely resistant to capture."
"Well, consult with Keene, make a plan, make it happen.
And quickly, before my competitors get wind of this."
In this role, Melling explores a character willing to subject other human beings to endless
torment if it means greater power and profits for his corporation.
It's a potent allegory for our time, when all good things in the world seem to be endlessly
commodified.
We won't tell you how the plot plays out, but suffice it to say that Melling plays his
corporate creep to the teeth.
"If this takes years, maybe decades, what does it matter to them?
If we can unlock their genetic code, the world will be begging us for the key."
Thanks for watching.
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