It's the start of January and there are plenty of cold, wintry nights ahead – so what could be better than a new murder mystery flick to settle down to in the comfort of your own home?

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Luckily, brand new Netflix original movie The Pale Blue Eye – adapted from the 2003 novel of the same name by American author Louis Bayard – arrives on the streamer very shortly following a brief theatrical run, with Christian Bale leading the cast and Harry Melling starring as a young Edgar Allan Poe.

Read on for everything you need to know about the gothic whodunnit – including how to watch it and who else features in the cast.

The Pale Blue Eye Netflix release date

The Pale Blue Eye
Robert Duvall as Jean Pepe, Christian Bale as Augustus Landor and Harry Melling as Edgar Allan Poe in The Pale Blue Eye. Netflix

The film arrives on Netflix globally on Friday 6th January – so there isn't long to wait until you can watch it in the comfort of your own home.

But if you're especially eager to see it before then, it's also showing in select UK cinemas – having been given a limited theatrical release from Friday 23rd December.

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The Pale Blue Eye plot

The film follows events at West Point military academy in 1830 when a detective is brought in to solve a mysterious murder – eventually finding an assistant in the shape of a young Edgar Allan Poe, who was a cadet at the academy at the time.

The official synopsis provided by Netflix reads: "West Point, 1830. In the early hours of a gray winter morning, a cadet is found dead. But after the body arrives at the morgue, tragedy becomes savagery when it’s discovered that the young man’s heart has been skilfully removed.

"Fearing irreparable damage to the fledgling military academy, its leaders turn to a local detective, Augustus Landor, to solve the murder. Stymied by the cadets’ code of silence, Landor enlists the help of one of their own to pursue the case, an eccentric cadet with a disdain for the rigours of the military and a penchant for poetry – a young man named Edgar Allan Poe."

The Pale Blue Eye cast

The Pale Blue Eye cast
The Pale Blue Eye cast. Netflix

Director Scott Cooper – whose previous films include Crazy Heart and Black Mass – has assembled a starry cast for the film, led by Oscar winner Christian Bale as veteran detective Augustus Landor.

He is joined by former Harry Potter star Harry Melling, who takes on the role of a young Edgar Allan Poe, while there are also key roles for Gillian Anderson, Lucy Boynton, Toby Jones and Industry's Harry Lawtey, who each play members of the mysterious Marquis family.

Other big names to appear in the film include Charlotte Gainsbourg as Patsy, Timothy Spall as Superintendent Player, and Robert Duvall as Jean-Pepe while the cast is rounded out by Fred Hechinger (The White Lotus), Simon McBurney (Rev), Hadley Robinson (Little Women) and Gideon Glick (The Marvelous Mrs Maisel).

The Pale Blue Eye trailer

If you're still unsure what to expect from the film you can check out the trailer below – which shows Bale's detective attempting to solve the case against a dark and snowy backdrop.

The Pale Blue Eye is currently showing in select UK cinemas and will be available on Netflix from Friday 6th January 2023. Sign up for Netflix from £6.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

If you’re looking for something to watch tonight, check out our TV Guide or Streaming Guide, or visit our dedicated Film hub for all the latest news.

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