The Devil to Pay is a 2019 American independent thriller film written and directed by the husband and wife team of Ruckus Skye and Lane Skye (in their film debut) and starring Danielle Deadwyler as a struggling mother who must protect her son after the disappearance of her husband forces her to face off with the most powerful family on the mountain headed up by matriarch Tommy Runion (Catherine Dyer).

[2] The Devil to Pay received positive reviews from critics for Skye's debut and Deadwyler's lead performance.

The Devil to Pay’ opens at a small house on an Appalachian mountain where Lemon Cassidy lives with her son, Coy.

He asks her to deliver a jar of sulfuric acid to a religious cult that lives on the outskirts.

She finds a pocket watch in the glove compartment belonging to Percy Knox, Tommy's rival landowner.

Tommy explains that Tarlee stole the wrong watch and sends Lemon to Percy's house with Bull, her brother.

Percy reveals that his and Tommy's family have been in a truce for years, and killing a member could lead to a war.

However, recently Percy took down a tree planted by Tommy's grandfather after it was struck by lightning, leading to her seeking revenge.

With no help and a target on her back, Lemon must find a way to survive and save her son, forming the rest of the plot.

Therefore, she chains Dixon to his brothers' bodies in the grave they had dug for her son, leaving him alive, and heads to confront Tommy.

Moreover, Lemon cleverly takes out her enemies and makes the deaths look like a result of a war between the Knox and the Runion factions.

Lemon's actions echo the moral of the story she tells Coy earlier in the film, where a person must do anything necessary to survive as the crooked and evil world will always try to destroy them.

Thus, Lemon's story comes full circle as she goes from being a homemaker to a force of fury when her son's life is threatened.

[3][4][5] Cath Clarke from The Guardian wrote in her review: "Deadwyler's soulful performance really grounds The Devil to Pay even as it cranks into revenge-movie mode.