PICK OF DIGITAL & ON DEMAND TV

THE PALE BLUE EYE, NETFLIX

EDGAR ALLAN POE paved the way for Poirot and Sherlock Holmes by inventing the modern detective story with his 1841 work The Murders In The Rue Morgue — but how would he have fared as a sleuth himself? This brilliantly atmospheric and chilling thriller attempts to find out, placing Poe at U.S. military academy West Point, where one of his fellow cadets dies in a macabre manner. Former Harry Potter star Harry Melling plays the author, who strikes up a friendship with detective Augustus Landor (Christian Bale), and together they attempt to unmask the killer. Adapted from a 2003 novel by Louis Bayard, the film is loosely based on fact, and taps into Poe’s passion for the macabre, which inspired stories such as The Pit And The Pendulum. The removal of the dead cadet’s heart suggests a link to the occult, and Landor and Poe seek out Jean-Pepe (Hollywood legend Robert Duvall Duvall), an expert in such matters. The spooky spectacular also features Toby Jones as a doctor who performs an autopsy on the cadet, and Gillian Anderson as his wife (both pictured).