The Pale Blue Eye (2022)
77%RT Audience Score: 79%
Awards & Nominations: NA
The Pale Blue Eye lacks its source material’s piercing gaze, but this well-cast mystery is just intriguing enough to investigate.
“The Pale Blue Eye” is a well-cast mystery that may not live up to its source material, but is still intriguing enough to be worth investigating.
Production Company(ies)
Chernin Entertainment, Cross Creek Pictures, Le Grisbi Productions, MadRiver Pictures, Netflix
Distributor
Netflix
Release Type
Streaming, Streaming (Netflix), Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States; Pennsylvania, United States
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
2022
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital, Dolby
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:2h 10m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Dec 23, 2022 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 6, 2023
Genre(s)
Mystery & thriller/Horror
Keyword(s)
starring Christian Bale, Harry Melling, Gillian Anderson, Lucy Boynton, Robert Duvall, Charlotte Gainsbourg, directed by Scott Cooper, written by Scott Cooper, produced by Christian Bale, Scott Cooper, John Lesher, Tyler Thompson, Mystery & Thriller, Horror, R, West Point, 1830, cadet, murder, detective, Edgar Allan Poe, poetry, box office, budget, reviewed by Wendy Ide, Clarisse Loughrey, Olly Richards, Stephanie Zacharek, Anton Bitel, Richard Roeper, Dustin Chase, Sarah Marrs, Taylor Baker, Allen Almachar, Dennis Schwartz, Paul Whitington, Netflix, limited release, streaming, 2h 10m, distributor
Worldwide gross: NA
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $72,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $77,087,794
Production budget ranking: 535
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $41,511,777
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Harry Melling – Edgar Allan Poe
Gillian Anderson –
Lucy Boynton – Lea Marquis
Robert Duvall – Jean Pepe
Charlotte Gainsbourg – Patsy
Director(s)
Scott Cooper
Writer(s)
Scott Cooper
Producer(s)
Christian Bale, Scott Cooper, John Lesher, Tyler Thompson
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (73) | Top Critics (24) | Fresh (47) | Rotten (26)
While the picture looks wonderfully atmospheric throughout, with its frostbitten monochromes and consumptive colour palette, the story disintegrates into a lurid and rather silly final act.
January 1, 2023 | Rating: 2/5
Wendy Ide
Observer (UK)
TOP CRITIC
It’s a handsome adaptation, albeit with an unnecessary bit of literary celebrity dragged alongside it.
December 28, 2022 | Rating: 3/5
Clarisse Loughrey
Independent (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Its plot is riddled with holes and its ending is overcooked, but it’s packed with terrific actors and achieves the light chill of a Christmas ghost story. Not one Poe would have been proud to write, but perhaps the sort of thing he’d read on holiday.
December 27, 2022 | Rating: 3/5
Olly Richards
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
Maybe, in truth, it never really does get going. But the story’s stately pace is part of the attraction, and perhaps key to its pleasurably somber tone.
December 26, 2022
Stephanie Zacharek
TIME Magazine
TOP CRITIC
The Pale Blue Eye is all at once a melancholic romance, a revenger’s tragedy, and an intriguing mystery. Its one problem, though, is that it comes with a glacial pace to match its wintry setting.
December 26, 2022
Anton Bitel
Little White Lies
TOP CRITIC
Even when the 19th century mystery takes some insanely big dramatic swings, Bale is immersed in his performance.
December 23, 2022 | Rating: 3/4
Richard Roeper
Chicago Sun-Times
TOP CRITIC
Director Scott Cooper and actor Christian Bale eat crow in this hum drum Edgar Allen Poe whodunnit.
December 31, 2022 | Rating: C-
Dustin Chase
Galveston Daily News
If you’re looking for a moody detective story, Eye is a reasonable option, even if the ending is very silly.
December 31, 2022
Sarah Marrs
Lainey Gossip
With a commanding performance by Bale, exquisite exterior cinematography wrought from natural lighting by Masanobu Takayanagi, and a committed turn by Melling as Poe, it’s unfortunate that The Pale Blue Eye is a meandering disappointment.
December 30, 2022 | Rating: 50/100
Taylor Baker
Drink in the Movies
Thankfully, strong performances and a striking ending lift it beyond its shortcomings. There’s a gem here if viewers are willing to find it.
December 30, 2022 | Rating: B
Allen Almachar
The MacGuffin
Can be enjoyed if you can somehow overcome how it goes off the tracks.
December 30, 2022 | Rating: B-
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
Scott Cooper’s film starts well enough and establishes its gothic atmosphere nicely. But an overripe plot overtakes it midway through.
December 29, 2022 | Rating: 3/5
Paul Whitington
Irish Independent…
Plot
Set in the 1830s, a cadet is murdered at then-fledgling West Point Academy. A local, veteran detective attempts to solve the case as it derails into a series of deaths. There he meets a young cadet, with a disdain for the strict regulations of the military and instead has a passion for poetry. The detective enlists the help of the cadet who will grow up to be author Edgar Allan Poe. Based on the novel by Louis Bayard.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Christian Bale stars in The Pale Blue Eye as Augustus Landor, a world-weary detective investigating the murder of a West Point cadet.
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