Christian Bale Stars in New Film The Pale Blue Eye

Christian Bale returns as a detective in the film adaptation of the novel, The Pale Blue Eye. Harry Melling will co-star alongside Bale as the renowned poet Edgar Allen Poe.

The film follows the brutal murder of a fellow cadet named Leroy Fry. As soon as the body arrives at the morgue, it’s discovered that the corpse’s heart was surgically removed. Military leaders discreetly turn to a retired detective, Augustus Lander, to solve the cadet’s inexplicable murder. However, due to the cadets’ code of silence, Augustus turns to Edgar Allan Poe to investigate his comrades. 

This Netflix film is based on the novel of the same name, The Pale Blue Eye, by Louis Bayard. The book’s synopsis claims that the characters “develop a surprisingly deep rapport as their investigation takes them into a hidden world of secret societies, ritual sacrifices, and more bodies.”

Cuz you know it’s always better to read the book first…. https://t.co/pXueHmPdjN

— Louis Bayard (@LouisBayard) November 17, 2022

Christain Bale (The Dark Knight Rises) embodies the role of the weary detective, Augustus Landor. Harry Melling (The Queen’s Gambit) acts alongside Bale as the peculiar poet Edgar Allen Poe. The X-Files actress, Gillian Anderson, joins the cast as the wife of a suspicious surgeon, Julia Marquis. Lucy Boynton (Bohemian Rhapsody), Toby Jones (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets), Harry Lawtey (Industry), and Robert Duvall (The Godfather) are some of the many actors that will star in the whodunnit film.

First look at Scott Cooper’s ‘THE PALE BLUE EYE’, starring Christian Bale, Harry Melling, Toby Jones, Gillian Anderson and Lucy Boynton.

The gothic thriller follows a detective investigating a series of murders in 1830 with a young cadet named Edgar Allan Poe. pic.twitter.com/se7w6lBco7

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) October 26, 2022

In The Machinist, Bale lost 63 pounds to embody an insomniac factory worker, Trevor Reznik. In a matter of months, he underwent another drastic transformation to become the chiseled dark knight in the commercial success Batman Begins. He has gone through many grueling unrecognizable changes to his physicality and mentality, which created authentic and gripping performances. 

Bale is an excellent chameleonic actor who truly becomes the character he portrays on the big screen. Coming off of his most recent role as “Gorr the God Butcher” in Thor: Love and Thunder, he will now embody detective Lander seamlessly in this upcoming film. His brooding stare and stern demeanor perfectly encapsulate detective Lander’s essence

The director of The Pale Blue Eye, Scott Cooper, can attest to Bale’s acting skills. According to Slash Film, Cooper compares Bale’s acting prowess to that of a Maserati. He states, “All you have to do is feather the accelerator — a note or an adjustment — and he’s off!”

Scott Cooper and Bale had previously collaborated on two award-winning films. They first worked together on the 2013 thriller, Out of the Furnace. A few years later they would join forces on the western film, Hostiles. Now the duo returns in a new project revolving around Louis Bayard’s mystery novel, The Pale Blue Eye.

If you’re a fan of Christian Bale & Scott Cooper’s past films, then you’re going to love ‘The Pale Blue Eye.’ It’s a gothic murder mystery that’s beautifully made and well acted, featuring a compelling partnership between Bale’s P.I. character and Harry Melling’s Edgar Allan Poe. pic.twitter.com/xwx0bCVSMU

— Brian Davids (@PickYourBrian) November 17, 2022

Cooper claims that the relationship between the main characters, Edgar Allen Poe and Detective Landor was very significant to him while making the film. 

The Hostiles director always had an affinity for Poe’s writings. He reveals that as a child, his father kindled his passion for Poe’s literary works. “Because my father taught English and there was lots of literature strewn about our house, Poe came into my world at a young age, and I was just fascinated with his works,” Cooper claims. As a result, his father inspired him to create the film by recommending he read the novel, The Pale Blue Eye.

.@Netflix thriller ‘The Pale Blue Eye’ was simply an outstanding body of work. From the set design + production, to the score, direction + casting, it did not disappoint on an engaging + clever story set w/an unraveling of intriguing + well written characters. #ThePaleBlueEye pic.twitter.com/wXcbs8eFOL

— Nikki Fowler (@NikkiFowler28) November 18, 2022

Adapting the novel to the big screen allowed Cooper to create not only a complex murder mystery but also “a father-and-son love story — a kinship between two men who are loners, who live on the margins of society.” 

Although the book and the film are fictitious, both works serve as Poe’s hypothetical origin story. Cooper comments that the events in this film’s reality inspired Poe to write about murder, death, and “the effects of decomposition and reanimation of the dead and mourning.” 

Christian Bale gives insight into the complexity behind Melling’s character, Edgar Allen Poe. In an interview with Vanity Fair, he reveals that “while Poe seems to be the one who is clearly putting on a performance, he is actually the most sincere. Everyone else is more quietly putting on a performance, but no one is who they are pretending to be.” 

Cooper explains that Poe fits with the themes of the story due to his dark imagination. Cooper recalls, “Poe was so fascinated with the occult and the Satanic.” He was always imaginative, leading himself to the dark crevices of his mind.

Prepare for the unraveling of Satanic rituals, sacrifices, a trail of bodies, and a unique duo. Fans of dark historical fiction can purchase Louis Bayard’s novel on Amazon here. In addition, the Gothic film will be available to stream on Netflix on January 6, 2023. Watch the evocative trailer for The Pale Blue Eye down below.