The Pale Blue Eye (2022)

The Pale Blue Eye (2022)

 

5/10

 

Starring

Christian Bale

Harry Melling

Gillian Anderson

Lucy Boynton

 

Directed by Scott Cooper

 

One thing this movie has that is really cool is that the ending is very surprising, and it will take you unawares how the case in question was already a done deal from the start. The movie is like a charade of what the lead Landor (Christian Bale) wants it to be. This then makes the presence and the case of Poe (Harry Melling) being an assistant detective in the matter silly, irrelevant and at the end somewhat misleading. Because his discovery seems late for a person of his character.

Acting wise you will not expect less from the actors involved, but the pacing of the movie has so many dragged instances that just bore to a point of sleepiness. The movie’s other arc had too many icky presumptions that just made the whole experience a forgettable time watching Netflix.

The story is about Landor a former veteran detective who was called back to duty to investigate the death of a cadet. The said cadet was found hung, but his body was in a sitting position on the ground.

Landor did not agree with the autopsy that the death was a suicide. Landor was able to discover that the person was struck in the back of the head before the attempt to hang him failed when another cadet was approaching. Another thing crazy about this case was that the body was mutilated with the heart missing.

Landor picks up the case and halfway into this movie after being dragged about in one bad cinematography to another (some scenes were just too dark), another cadet was killed. In the same way as the first but there is a difference the carving out of the heart seems to have been done in a clumsier way than the first.

Landor’s other discovery shows that the town’s doctor who did the autopsy was into occult behaviors which points fingers to him and his family. Also, his aid Poe seems to have had some sort of altercation with the two dead cadets so there are some who believe that he has a hand in the deaths.

The movie was an ok view, but not good enough to make anyone want to recommend it. I think the movie would have been a better work if it had less dull moments of Poe trying to solve the case while Landor listens. If more focus were on the investigation, not the talking. The movie is still streaming on Netflix, if you want to see it as a Christian Bale fan.