Movie · 2010 · Horror, Mystery, Thriller · 1h 20m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 1.6/10 (168.2K ratings)
Bad things happen for a reason.
Overview
A group of people are trapped in an elevator high above Philadelphia, and one of them is the devil.
Ratings
Curator score: 1.6/10
IMDb: 6.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 83%
Metacritic: 44
TMDB: 6.1/10
Director
John Erick Dowdle
Production
Universal Pictures, MRC, The Night Chronicles, Relativity Media
Cast
Chris Messina, Bojana Novaković, Jenny O'Hara, Logan Marshall-Green, Jacob Vargas, Bokeem Woodbine, Matt Craven, Caroline Dhavernas, Joshua Peace, Zoie Palmer, Joe Cobden, Vincent Laresca, Craig Eldridge, Geoffrey Arend, Rudy Webb, Robert Lee, Genadijs Dolganovs, Joe Pingue, Killian Gray, Michael Rhoades
Curator Review
Verdict
A slick, compact supernatural thriller with a strong high-concept hook and enough momentum to keep it entertaining, even when the mystery leans into familiar twists. It works best as a tense genre ride rather than a deeply original horror film.
Best for
Viewers who like contained, single-location thrillers
Fans of supernatural whodunits
People in the mood for a brisk, pulpy horror movie
Audiences who enjoy twisty B-movie setups with a serious tone
Skip if
You want genuinely scary horror
You dislike melodramatic dialogue or heavy-handed morality play
You prefer subtle supernatural storytelling
You are looking for a highly original or prestige-level mystery
Overview
Devil is a compact elevator-bound thriller that gets a lot of mileage out of a simple premise. The setup is immediate, the tension is efficient, and the movie understands the appeal of making a small space feel like a pressure cooker. It’s the kind of genre film that moves fast enough to keep you leaning in, even when you can see some of the machinery working behind the curtain.
Worth noting
What keeps it watchable is the combination of mystery and supernatural paranoia. The film plays like a locked-room puzzle with a demonic edge, and that gives it a pulpy, late-night-movie energy. It’s also helped by a cast that sells the panic and suspicion inside the elevator, even when the script gets blunt about its themes.
Bottom line
The downside is that the movie’s ideas are more effective than its execution. Some of the character beats feel schematic, and the eventual reveals don’t fully justify the build-up. Still, as a lean, moderately clever horror-thriller with a strong hook, it earns its place as an easy recommendation for genre fans who don’t mind a few rough edges.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Chris Evangelista (2.5★) · 1021 likes
“When the devil is around, toast falls jelly side down.”
ayad · 935 likes
some guy at the start of the movie said why don’t you suck a butt and it only got worse from there
may ♡ (4★) · 860 likes
lmao of course karen is the devil
mia lee vicino (2★) · 703 likes
reminds me of this guy’s short film i had to watch in college that was essentially just a Saw rip-off but instead of the victims being punished for committing borderline-irredeemable crimes the killer kidnaps a guy for stealing a bike and a woman for cheating then writes “theft” and “adultery” on a chalkboard. so it’s like that but also chris messina is there