‘The Devil and the Daylong Brothers’ – Southern Gothic Is One of This Year’s Best Movies You Haven’t Seen

The Devil and the Daylong Brothers snuck onto my radar last month. A musical/thriller, it’s likely one you’ve never even heard of, but it’s among the year’s best films.

Writer/director Brandon McCormick, who co-wrote the script with Nicholas Kirk, stages an epic cross-country search for the devil. Three brothers – Enoch (Nican Robinson), Ish (Brendan Bradley), and Abe (Jordon Bolden) – have had their souls ripped from their bodies and sold by their father. They must now track him down, all while passionately confessing their deepest, darkest, and innermost thoughts in song. Along their journey, they come across Frankie (Rainey Qualley, Margaret Qualley’s older sister – yes, really!), who supposedly knows where their father, Nehemiah (Keith Carradine), might be hiding. 

The film opens with the absolute barn-burner “‘Til the Burning’s Through,” set in a neon-soaked bar where the trio of brothers show a violent misogynist a lesson or two. It’s the perfect set-up for the kind of bluesy Americana songs the audience can expect throughout the film. Robinson, Bradley, and Bolden display roof-scorching vocal power that’ll knock you over. Their performances are full of yearning, bathed in a monstrous growl that seeks to tear you limb from limb. With humorous, twangy accents, particularly Bradley, who often feels like a caricature (complimentary), the trio emerge as vigilantes with strong moral codes. When someone is in peril, the Daylong Brothers are the first to step up and teach transgressors the error of their ways.

“Hell is at Hand” and “Ties That Bind” are also stand-outs from the soundtrack, equally electric and soul-shaking as the cast pushes the boundaries of their vocals and keeps rhythmic time with the earth-covered melodies. There’s nothing anybody can do when up against Abe, Ish, and Enoch – evidenced through plenty of action-packed sequences (while they’re singing, no less). They go toe-to-toe with various deviants, including a pastor who’s been dabbling in the devil’s work.