"Movie Review of the Intricate Mind Games of Pale Blue Eye: A Tale of Mystery and Madness"

"The Dead Haunt us because we love them too little. We forget them you see, we don't mean to but we do" – Edgar Allan Poe, The Pale Blue Eye

The Movie Pale Blue Eye directed by Scott Cooper is a mystery thriller adapted from the 2003 novel by Louis Bayard. Set in 1830, the film's plot involves the murder of Cadets from the United States Military Academy. Augustus Landor is called upon to investigate the murders. Augustus receives help in this investigation from a young Edgar Allan Poe, who at this point in his life is a Cadet in the Academy.

The first victim mentioned in the movie was Cadet Leroy Fry. Cadet Fry was hanged and his heart was removed from his body. When his corpse was examined, Landor finds a small fragment of a note clutched tightly in Fry's hand. Another cadet, Cadet Ballinger, goes missing and is later found hanged, with both his heart and his genitals removed. A third Cadet, Stoddard, who was a colleague of the two victims, then disappears, and it is presumed by Augustus that this man had reason to believe he was next in line to be killed. As the victims' bodies have been found with their hearts removed, Augustus begins to suspect that witchcraft and devil worship is at play. However, the superiors at the United States Military Academy insist that Augustus should consider Edgar, who had a connection with both the victims, should be viewed as a suspect.

The duo takes a particular interest in the academy's doctor, Daniel Marquis, and his family. Later in the movie, it was revealed that the family of Daniel Marquis was the one responsible for the disappearance of the cadet's internal organs to make them as a sacrifice to cure her daughter's sickness. Augustus Landor is told where they are after interrogating Daniel Marquis, and he arrives while Lea is in the middle of the ceremony. The building is set on fire during the rescue attempt, and a piece of falling debris kills Lea. After the entire debacle, the US Military Academy thought that the case was solved and thanked Augustus for his help, however, it was found by Edgar Poe that the writings seen in Fry's hand are the same as that of Augustus. Edgar confronted Augustus about his findings. After forming a father-son bond, and sympathizing with Landor over Mattie, Poe burns the two notes -- the only evidence Landor is guilty. Feeling somewhat at peace, Landor returns to the cliff where Mattie died, and releases her hair ribbon, saying, "Rest, my love."

Pale Blue Eyes offers a unique insight into two different approaches fueled by one desire. The Desire to do anything for their Children. Dr. Daniel Marquis had tried everything medically possible to cure Lea of her sickness. However, as Lea performing devil worship seemed to be working, Daniel allowed the Satanic rituals to continue since he wanted his daughter to live. Meanwhile, Augustus Landor had already lost his daughter two years before the events of The Pale Blue Eye, and Augustus was consumed by a thirst for vengeance for his daughter Mattie's rape and subsequent suicide. While Augustus seems to achieve a level of catharsis in the film's final moments, it comes at the cost of his blossoming friendship with Edgar Allan Poe.

The moral lesson I acquired from this movie is that we all have family in our lives that we adore, but let's not use this as an excuse to exact retribution. Since taking the law into our own hands won't make the agony go away and will only make other innocent people's lives worse, let justice do its work instead. Last but not least, I discovered through this film that love is a very strong emotion, capable of making someone do anything against their better judgment in an effort to preserve a loved one.

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Zee, Michaela (December 7, 2022). "'The Pale Blue Eye' Trailer: Christian Bale Teams With Edgar Allan Poe to Investigate a Grisly Murder in Netflix Thriller". Variety. Retrieved December 21, 2022. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pale_Blue_Eye.