This month Verve’s star teen reviewer Lucy Kennedy examines the movie The Pale Blue Eye.
The Pale Blue Eye
16+
The camera fades into a fog-laden landscape, distinguishable through the mist is the tall figure of a tree trunk. Eerie, creaking noises begin to sound, and a hanging body is revealed, drifting lightly with the breeze. This is the opening shot of new Netflix film, directed by Scott Cooper, The Pale Blue Eye.
Set in 1830 at a military school in New York, the plot centres around the solving of a series of murders connected to the same conspiracy. Our main investigator is Augustus Landor, a retired investigator who’s been asked to return to his job in order to solve the mystery. The first death is that of Cadet Leroy Fry. As his body spends the night in a morgue, an unknown offender carves out his heart. Enlisted to solve the mystery by those in charge of the school, Mr. Landor decides that he needs a man inside to gather intel and assist him in his investigations, and picks a young Edgar Allen Poe, (yes, the poet) to help.
I enjoyed the air of the film as it was shot in an atmosphere filled with blanketing snow and swirling fog – certainly the perfect setting for a murder mystery. The entire film is awash in melancholy shades of blue, which definitely lends to the ominous feeling of the film. Major themes throughout the movie are grief and loss, with main characters walking through a snow-topped cemetery, attending a funeral, often mentioning deceased family members, and generally pondering death. This is to be expected of a film featuring Edgar Allen Poe, as he is known for macabre works of literature. The visually pleasing aspects did make it enjoyable to watch, but some of the plot felt a bit slow and in parts predictable.
Available to stream on Netflix
2/5 stars
Instagram: @lucykennedyreviews
