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‘The Pale Blue Eye’: Who Is The Real Murderer At The End?

Netflix's first big movie of 2023, The Pale Blue Eye, features Christian Bale as detective Augustus "Gus" Landor, who is brought into West Point to investigate a series of murders. Landor teams up with Edgar Allen Poe (played by Harry Melling), a young cadet at the institution. The plot, concerning an experienced detective appointed to investigate a strange death at the still-new United States Military Academy, also has enough grim and dark matters. Both of these, combined with the period that is being portrayed and the characters who are involved, make for a great watch. The movie left us with more questions than answers. At the end of the movie, who is the real murderer? 
 

1. ‘The Pale Blue Eye’ Summary: What Is The Film About?

The Pale Blue Eye who is real murdererSource: Salon

The Pale Blue Eye is a 2022 American mystery thriller film written and directed by Scott Cooper, adapted from the 2003 novel of the same name by Louis Bayard.[1] It tells the story of veteran detective Augustus Landor who, in 1830 West Point, New York, investigates a series of murders at the United States Military Academy with the aid of Edgar Allan Poe, a young military cadet. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Christian Bale and Harry Melling as Landor and Poe respectively, along with Gillian Anderson, Lucy Boynton, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Toby Jones, Harry Lawtey, Simon McBurney, Timothy Spall, and Robert Duvall.

2. ‘The Pale Blue Eye’ Plot Twist

The Pale Blue Eye who is real murdererSource: Netflix life

Landor and Poe's investigation leads them to Julia Marquis (Gillian Anderson), whose daughter Lea (Lucy Boynton) suffers seizures and practices black magic as a cure. Poe believes Lea might have killed the cadets as part of an occult ritual until he discovers that Landor's handwriting matches a note on one of the dead bodies. 
In the end, it's revealed that Landor murdered the young men after his daughter was raped by cadets two years earlier. The assault drove her to suicide and Landor wanted revenge.  "We're all capable of anything under the right circumstances," Bayard says. "This is a character who has dedicated his career to apprehending criminals and enforcing justice. And yet when his own daughter is taken from him, the usual institutions are no longer sufficient. He has to take matters into his own hands."
Related: Netflix 'The Pale Blue Eye': The Real Story Behind You Don't Know

3. ‘The Pale Blue Eye’: Who Is The Real Murderer?

The Pale Blue Eye who is real murdererSource: The conversation

The murders are pinned on the Marquis siblings and things return to normal at West Point. But there’s still a final twist to come.
After learning early in the movie that Landor is a widower whose only daughter ran off (or so he claims), the truth of Landor’s past is revealed in a fateful encounter between the detective and Poe. Deducing that the handwriting on the note found in Fry’s hand and a note Landor later left for him are one and the same, Poe confronts Landor over his involvement in the murders. Landor confesses that his daughter, Mattie (Hadley Robinson), didn’t actually run away, but was raped by three assailants on her way home from the academy ball two years earlier and later jumped off a cliff to her death.

The Pale Blue Eye who is real murdererSource: Time Out

Mattie came away from the assault holding Fry’s dog tag, leading Landor to seek revenge on Fry following her suicide. It was only after Landor murdered Fry that the Marquis family decided to make use of the dead body by stealing his heart. After learning of Ballinger’s involvement from Fry’s diary, Landor killed and mutilated him in the same way to make the murders appear ritualistic. Assuming he was next, Stoddard, the third assailant, ran off to avoid the same fate.
Landor also reveals that he always intended for Poe to discover it was him: “You were the one who I was to deliver myself to all along,” he says. “I knew that from the moment I first met you, and here we are.” In the end, Poe has the opportunity to turn Landor in and send him to the gallows, but instead decides the detective has suffered enough and burns the evidence.
Related: The Pale Blue Eye: Are Landor And Poe Dead? What Happens To Them?
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