ALL THE DEVILS RUNED HERE. An interesting combination of gangster cinema and horror

All the devils fled here Barnaby Roper’s 2025 is a film that slipped through the screens almost unnoticed, but it is worth taking a closer look at it because it is an attempt to refresh at least two conventions.

Harold Laing, the representative of an influential London gangster, orders a bank robbery to a team consisting of an experienced thief Ronnie, the unpredictable Grady, an accountant nicknamed Numbers and a young driver Royce. The robbery ends with success, but while escaping, the criminals hit a random passer-by with their car. Laing directs them to a remote house and tells them to wait in hiding for seven days until the whole thing blows over. Isolated from the world, men begin to fall into paranoia and accuse each other of wanting to steal the loot.

All the devils fled here based on a script by John Patrick Dover is the feature-length debut of Barnaby Roper, who has so far made a handful of short films and music videos (including for David Bowie and Moby). However, the film is far from the aesthetics of a music video: it is unhurried, restrained and methodical, full of slow sequences taking place in one location. The cinematographer, Peter Flinckenberg, placed emphasis on details and close-ups (faces, interiors of a country cottage, dirty windows, household utensils), thus creating an ambivalent atmosphere – atmospheric and disturbing at the same time.

The film effectively confuses the tropes: the whole thing begins like a classic heist movie or British style crime story Long Good Friday (1980) John Mackenzie, Sexy Beast (2000) Jonathan Glazer, Layer (2004) Matthew Vaughn or Rock’N’Roll (2008) by Guy Ritchie, to smoothly transition into something close to the works of Roman Polański, see Snare (1966), Death and the girl (1994) i Ghost writer (2010). The spirit of literature, especially drama, also hovers over the film, although quite subtly Waiting for Godot Samuel Beckett from 1952. The title of Roper’s film is a direct quote from Storm William Shakespeare.

The final twist is driving All the devils fled here in yet another direction, namely horror. This plot twist will probably divide viewers into two camps – some will question such a solution as ridiculous, while others (including the undersigned) will applaud the attempt to refresh the conventions of both gangster and horror cinema. Regardless of personal preferences, it is impossible not to appreciate the suspense, the excellent skills of the debuting filmmaker and the brilliantly selected cast; especially stand out Eddie Marsan as the world-weary Ronnie and Sam Claflin as Grady.