The Pale Blue Eye (2023)

The film definitely wins points for atmosphere and mood. Everything is cold, dark and gray with not a whit of sunshine. It reminds me a great deal of Tim Burton’s Sleep Hollow in that respect.

Christian Bale is Augustus Landor, retired detective in the 1830s hired by the Commandant of West Point to solve the murder of a cadet who was ritualistically hung. He secretly hires one of the cadets to help him with the case, a bright young man named Edgar Allen Poe (Harry Melling). Yes, its THAT Poe. Together they infiltrate a group of cadets who are in a secret society. When more bodies start turning up dead and mutilated, the pressure on Landor and Poe rises. Along the way, Poe falls in love with Lea Marquis (Lucy Boyton), the daughter of the school’s doctor and the sister of a fellow cadet. Even Robert Duvall as a wise, old expert on the occult and Gillian Anderson as Dr. Marquis’ wife, make appearances.

Its an interesting detective yarn that has a really good feel for its era. The 1830s were not a great time to be alive and the activities at West Point turned young men into soldiers, not always for the best. There is a supernatural element to the film which kind of turned me off, not because I don’t like supernatural themes, but it didn’t fit with the film IMO.

Bale is really good as the weary detective who has his own agenda. Bale was so good as Batman because he could play that split personality so well. He displays that same talent here with Landor. Melling does a fantastic job as Poe. I’ve read a lot of Poe’s stuff and I have read books about him. Melling plays him exactly how I imagined Poe would be: intense, brilliant, addictive personality, but also naive. Getting his heart broken in so many ways in his life just seemed inevitable for Mr. Poe.

The mystery itself was not all that interesting and its revelation was a little underwhelming. The twist ending was handled slightly better than an M. Night Shyamalan movie, but it was still kind of weak.

Overall, it was a good film and well worth the watch. I gave it a 7 for the atmosphere and the talent involved.