West Point, New York, 1830. When a cadet at the burgeoning military academy is found hanged with his heart cut out, the top brass summons former New York City constable Augustus Landor to investigate. While attempting to solve this grisly mystery, the reluctant detective engages the help of one of the cadets: a strange but brilliant young fellow by the name of Edgar Allan Poe.
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Always felt like this film was just few scenes away from being a great mystery movie but it was not. Fortunately the period it’s set in, the atmospheric cinematography and great Bale and the best performer Harry Melling, beating even Bale makes this a decent watch. Very routine period mystery that doesn’t surprise much. I would still like it if Scott Cooper or Netflix convert this into a franchise as this has good scope to be a great franchise with much better stories than this.
Although obviously inspired by Poes work I definitely feel some lovecraftian influence as well. The standout performance for me was Harry Melling as Poe himself. I wasn’t expecting him to have such a strong southern accent but the hammy performance really livened up the film. And his scenes with Bale’s detective Landor were the highlight of the film, especially the final reveal.