The Pale Blue Eye (2022)
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A veteran detective and a young military cadet team up to solve a series of gruesome murders at a military academy in 1830.
The story
In October 1830, alcoholic retired detective Augustus Landor is tasked by the military to investigate the hanging of Cadet Leroy Fry at the United States Military Academy. Landor, a widower whose daughter disappeared years prior, finds a mysterious note in the victim's hand. He enlists the help of Edgar Allan Poe, a young military cadet at the academy, to investigate the case. As they delve deeper, they discover that the victim may have been murdered and that the investigation may be linked to dark rituals. The duo must navigate the secrets of the academy while uncovering the truth behind the gruesome crime.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1830, retired detective Augustus Landor investigates the hanging of Cadet Leroy Fry at the United States Military Academy. Finding a note in Fry's hand, Landor teams up with a young cadet, Edgar Allan Poe, to investigate. They discover a pattern of ritualistic murders involving missing hearts and organs. They eventually suspect the family of Dr. Daniel Marquis, who is using black magic to cure his daughter's seizures. During a confrontation, a fire breaks out, and the Marquis children die. However, Poe realizes that the handwriting on the note matches Landor's. It is revealed that Landor's daughter was raped and killed by Fry and others years earlier; Landor had orchestrated the 'murders' as a twisted form of revenge. Poe eventually burns the evidence linking Landor to the crimes, and Landor is left alone at the site of his daughter's death.
- First release year
- 2022
- Runtime (minutes)
- 130
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Scott Cooper
- Writers
- Scott Cooper · writer
- Cast and characters
- Christian Bale · Augustus Landor; Harry Melling · Edgar Allan Poe; Gillian Anderson; Lucy Boynton; Robert Duvall; Charlotte Gainsbourg; Toby Jones; Harry Lawtey
- Genres
- period mystery gothic thriller
- Themes
- revenge; gothic mystery
- Tone and mood
- gothic; mystery
- Premise and plot tags
- historical; detective; serial killer
- Source material / true-story basis
- 2006 novel by Louis Bayard
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 56 · scale: 100 · review count: 40
- Awards and nominations
- Visual Effects Society Awards · Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature · 21st · nominated
- Production trivia
- Robert Duvall's last movie before his death in 2026; Cast includes a cameo by John Fetterman and Gisele Barreto Fetterman
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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