The Pale Blue Eye

The Pale Blue Eye(2022)

R
12/22/2022 (US)Thriller, Crime, Horror, Mystery2h 8m
6.8

"Every heart tells a tale."

Overview

West Point, New York, 1830. When a cadet at the burgeoning military academy is found hanged with his heart cut out, the top brass summons former New York City constable Augustus Landor to investigate. While attempting to solve this grisly mystery, the reluctant detective engages the help of one of the cadets: a strange but brilliant young fellow by the name of Edgar Allan Poe.

Scott Cooper

Writer

Scott Cooper

Director

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Media

Official Trailer

Official Trailer

Trailer

SCENE AT THE ACADEMY: The Pale Blue Eye

SCENE AT THE ACADEMY: The Pale Blue Eye

Featurette

A crime so grisly, you need Edgar Allan Poe

A crime so grisly, you need Edgar Allan Poe

Clip

Murder at West Point: Creating The Pale Blue Eye

Murder at West Point: Creating The Pale Blue Eye

Behind the Scenes

Official Teaser

Official Teaser

Teaser

Social

N
A review by Nathan
6.0

Written on February 1, 2023

The Pale Blue Eye had great performances, fantastic cinematography, and a decent story but fails in terms of pacing and a bloated runtime that did not feel warranted.

Christian Bale is fantastic in this role. He is incredibly intense, being able to capture the seriousness of his detective work balanced with the emotions of his unfortunate tragedies in life. A performance of this caliber is expected of Bale, but what was a surprise is the standout performance of Harry Melling. Melling was whimsical and tad odd with his portrayal of the famous Edgar Allen Poe. He legitimately stole every scene he was, including the ones with Bale.

The film was quite long and drawn out. The beginning act did fine as the audience is still learning the world and the crimes committed. But after that wears off it begins to drag going into a climatic third act. A lot of this bloat could have been cut down to create a better viewing experience. That being said, I did enjoy the story of this film. It was engaging and had some twists that I think worked pretty well, although the ending did leave me with a few questions.

Score: 61%
Verdict: Decent