‘The Pale Blue Eye’ review: Christian Bale and Henry Melling get to the heart of Edgar Allan Poe’s enigmatic tale

Scott Cooper expertly adapts Louis Bayard’s novel, with Kristan Bell and Harry Melling at the heart of the mystery.

Based on Lewis BayardThe critically acclaimed novel of the same name, Scott Cooper‘s Pale blue eye Narrows in a short window of time when he was a great literary Edgar Allan Poe He was a student at West Point Military Academy. While the film is a work of fiction, it offers an intriguing and somewhat believable interpretation of Poe, which neatly includes allusions to his later poems and short stories.

Set in 1830, Pale blue eye He sees the Military Academy in turmoil when the corpse of Cadet Leroy Fry (Matt HeimHe was found hanging from a tree with his heart cut out from his chest. The horrific violence of the attack led local authorities to call in former New York cop Augustus Landor (Christian Bale) to investigate the case, hoping to catch the killer before he breeds a victim. Someone who knows the comings and goings of the cadets who have been close to Fry, Landor asks for Poe (Harry Melling) to collect information.

As the unlikely duo begin to unravel the mystery, they quickly discover that there is much more than meets the eye (the pale blue) eye in play. Due to the nature of Fry’s murder, things begin to point in the direction of the occult. This line of inquiry takes them to the cusp of Artemus Marquez (Harry Lottie), whose father happens to be West Point’s resident surgeon, Dr. Daniel Marquis (Toby Jones(and her sister Leah)Lucy Boynton) happens to catch Bo’s eye. Leia something sick causes her father and her mother Julia (Gillian Anderson) to worry about her constantly, but that doesn’t stop Artemus’ friends from pining for her, too. She doesn’t even care that Bo insists on walking her through the cemetery, amid growing fears that there is a killer on the loose.

Related: Pale Blue Eye gets haunting new character stickers [Exclusive]

Mealing, who is perhaps best known for playing Dudley Dursley in Harry Potter franchise, there is no resemblance to that character as it brings to life Poe’s down-to-earth, even-tempered Mr. Southern persona. It’s exactly what one might expect from a wistful author who would go on to write haunting tales like “The Raven,” “Annabel Lee,” and “The Tell-Tale Heart,” and rise to fame as someone who dabbles in the strange and the macabre. Melling blends well with Bale, who plays Landor as a man who uses bluntness and sass to hide a hidden darkness. In many ways, Poe and Landor are outsiders – but their isolation is born of very different circumstances. As their friendship grows, so do the secrets between them.

recording time in about two hours, Pale blue eye It can drag at certain points, which the plot actually requires. He. She is a slow-moving mystery that leads its audience down narrow alleyways that offer nothing but dead ends and more death. His false beginnings are like the stuttering beat of a dying heart, he nears a predictable end–only to be brought back to life with the truth. Whenever you feel confident that you’ve come to a conclusion about the identity of the murderer and who is playing around with the occult, the scenario quickly pulls the rug out from under you. It’s a fun design for die-hard detectives, but the eleventh hour reveal can be frustrating for armchair detectives. Once Pale blue eye He reaches the abyss, the truth is revealed, and it will not soon be forgotten. The motives behind this madness may seem justified, painting the first hour and a half of the film in a whole new light.

The film’s cinematography is another feature, though Masanobu Takayanagi Reunion with Cooper (and Bale) after working with the duo on out of the oven And the enemiesBeside Black mass. Takayanagi’s cinematic framing relies more on the somber, haunted atmosphere that Cooper’s directing and screenplay capitalize on. Pale blue eye It brings to life the essence of Poe’s bleakest works, while folding into a fanciful interpretation of the author’s potential heroism. Set to a degree Howard ShoreIt’s hard to go wrong with the package Cooper has put together.

finally, Pale blue eye is a gothic tale that sets Bo as a damsel in distress, opposite Belle, who embodies the archetype of the brooding, brooding male protagonist. He follows predictable beats, trying to lull the audience into a false sense of security, before revealing the real architect behind the tale’s gruesome murders. It may be Cooper’s best historical film, perhaps because there is a distinct melancholy in it that is etched into the bones of Virginia’s finest – just like Poe.

Evaluation: b +

Pale blue eye It will hit theaters on December 23, 2022, and will be available to stream on Netflix on January 6, 2023.