In 19th Century America, a cadet at West Point military academy is found hanging with his heart cut out, leading the academy heads to appoint former New York City constable Augustus Landor (Christian Bale) to investigate the case. Whilst attempting to solve the case Landor meets an unusual cadet, an aspiring poet by the name of Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling). Together, the two are plunged into a mystery that involves Satanic rituals and a figure from Landor’s past.

Director Scott Cooper, who also wrote the film’s screenplay, boldly attempts to emulate the murder-mystery trappings of so many illustrious cinematic procedurals ranging from Se7en to Young Sherlock Holmes, with Landor and Poe as an ‘odd couple’ pairing combining their respective skills to solve the murders at the academy. At first, he appears to succeed, with Bale and Melling’s engaging performances conveying their differing personalities (Bale dogged and grounded, Melling eccentric and poetic) and their conflicts with the academy heads (Timothy Spall, Simon McBurney), helping to provide genre-appropriate tension.

In addition, Masanobu Takayanagi‘s atmospheric cinematography helps provide a chilly, bleak ambience that reflects the dark nature of the subject matter, which goes on to incorporate Satanism as a possible motive for the murders. A solid supporting cast, including Robert Duvall as an eccentric informant and Toby Jones as a doctor with a dark family secret, further add to the impression that what will unfold will be as engaging as the previous examples of the genre listed above.

However, what Cooper fails to provide is a coherent solution to the central mystery – with Landor’s apparent conclusion as to who committed the murders and why being stumbled upon with little display of deductive reasoning. Whilst this in itself does foreshadow the eventual motive for the murders, it results in the detective doing little actual detecting for the majority of the film’s runtime. What makes matters worse is the eventual revelation of the reasons behind the murders, which is abruptly divulged in a single scene and receives even less foreshadowing than the earlier false conclusion. Cooper has forgotten that the central appeal of mystery narratives is the deductive processes that lead the detective to their conclusion – omitting or abridging these plot devices essentially removes the main point of the story being told.

The Pale Blue Eye on the surface appears to be an engaging, atmospheric period murder-mystery with a cast of seasoned professionals, however its narrative core is fatally lacking, leading to a dispiriting viewing experience. Had there been more genre-appropriate meat on its bones, the film would be a must-see, as it is, the final product just comes across as a giant missed opportunity.

Available now on Netflix