Movie · 2022 · Thriller, Crime, Horror, Mystery · 2h 8m · R · English
Curator score: 2.0/10 (141.5K ratings)
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.
Ratings
Curator score: 2.0/10
IMDb: 6.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 62%
Metacritic: 56
TMDB: 6.8/10
Director
Scott Cooper
Production
Cross Creek Pictures, Le Grisbi Productions
Cast
Christian Bale, Harry Melling, Lucy Boynton, Toby Jones, Simon McBurney, Timothy Spall, Robert Duvall, Harry Lawtey, Gillian Anderson, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Hadley Robinson, Fred Hechinger, Joseph Brooks, Steven Maier, Brennan Keel Cook, Orlagh Cassidy, Scott G. Anderson, Gideon Glick, Jack Irv, Matt Helm
Where to watch
Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A handsome, wintry gothic mystery with strong atmosphere, period detail, and a standout turn from Harry Melling, but it’s also slow, emotionally distant, and more interested in mood than momentum. Best approached as a bleak literary detective story rather than a propulsive thriller.
Best for
Viewers who like cold, atmospheric period mysteries
Fans of gothic crime stories and literary adaptations
Audiences who enjoy restrained, melancholy detective work
People interested in early Edgar Allan Poe as a fictional character
Skip if
You want a fast-paced whodunit with constant twists
You’re impatient with slow, brooding storytelling
You need a horror film that delivers big scares
You prefer lively, character-driven mystery banter
Overview
The Pale Blue Eye is all frost and candlelight, a murder mystery that feels carved from old wood and winter air. Scott Cooper leans hard into the setting, giving West Point in 1830 a drained, haunted quality that suits the story’s graveyard mood. Christian Bale is solid as the weathered investigator, but the film’s real spark comes from Harry Melling, whose young Poe brings oddness, intelligence, and a little life to the proceedings.
Worth noting
The movie’s strongest asset is its atmosphere: the production design, costumes, and bleak landscapes do a lot of heavy lifting. It has the texture of a prestige gothic novel, and for some viewers that will be enough. For others, the pacing may feel glacial, and the mystery itself doesn’t always generate the urgency its premise promises.
Bottom line
As a piece of somber genre filmmaking, it’s more effective than it is thrilling. If you’re in the mood for a chilly, literary, old-world detective story with macabre flourishes, it can be absorbing. If you want a sharper, more surprising crime film, it may leave you admiring the furniture more than the room.
Top Letterboxd reviews
petestavsf (2.5★) · 1525 likes
this could be very very good if it was directed by Guillermo del toro
George Carmi (3.5★) · 1521 likes
In the midst of below average reviews, I come out pleasantly surprised by my level of enjoyment here. Harry Melling was exceptional. It’s hard for an actor to stand out on his own while acting alongside one of the greats in Christian Bale, but Harry took control and mesmerized me.
The film itself was haunting, dark, and eerie. Tim Burton vibes if you were to remove the quirks and quips of a typical Tim Burton picture.
TheFreshBeef (2.5★) · 1504 likes
Oh look the movie is over
*30 minutes later*
Oh look the movie is over
alor (3★) · 1019 likes
POEtic cinema
Kylo (3★) · 982 likes
There was definitely a decent movie in here. Very interesting plot and a beautiful production. The atmosphere and setting was five stars. So dreary and cold. I’m probably lucky I saw this in the cinema because it’s a bit slow and would have been hard to focus watching on Netflix.