Over the last decade or so , writer / director Antonio Campos has established himself as a master of intimate , moody character studies . His movies thus far have been rigidly focused on troubled individuals who pose an existential threat to either themselves ( Christine ) or others ( Afterschool ; Simon
Killer ). It ’ s safe to say he has an interest in homicide and suicide , which might make him the prime candidate to adapt Donald Ray Pollock ’ s The Devil All the Time , a novel in which almost every character either takes their own life or that of another member of its sprawling cast .