Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for the Netflix film The Pale Blue Eye.The best part of The Pale Blue Eye, the latest film from writer-director Scott Cooper now streaming on Netflix, comes in its ending when all the cards are laid on the bloody table. After the acclaimed investigator Augustus Landor (Christian Bale) and West Point Cadet Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling) put their case to bed in the eyes of the law, the real truths began to come out. In an extended conversation between the two, all the layers of subterfuge and mystery get pulled back to reveal the answer that was under our noses all along. In case it wasn’t already clear, this piece is going to spoil all of the film, up until its final moments. So, in the event you haven’t yet seen it, best bookmark this page and come back when you have done so. If you have, prepare to dive headfirst into the chilly conclusion to this grim tale of dreary death.
When Augustus first was called to look into this case of several soldiers getting murdered with their bodies horribly mutilated, it came up that his daughter Mattie (Hadley Robinson) had recently gone missing. No one seemed to know where she had gone and this hung over the patriarch, who tried to bury his feelings in the bottom of a bottle. It was only the enigmatic Edgar who seemed to even take note of this information. After the case had seemed to arrive at the truthful answer in that the soldiers were killed as part of a ritual by a local family, it was only he who continued to reflect on what happened. He then awoke one night and went to speak directly to Augustus. Poe then revealed how Mattie had been assaulted by the very same soldiers that all ended up being killed. Following this, she took her own life right in front of Augustus. Traumatized and seeking revenge, he then set out to get vengeance for her death. Yes, it was the very investigator called to look into the murders that was doing the killing.
As Edgar begins to reveal this to the man who had become somewhat of a friend to him, Augustus does not contest or defend himself in the slightest. The two men sit across from each other, tears streaming down their faces at this shared revelation that they are about to arrive at. Edgar asks Augustus why he didn’t tell him of his loss as he would have wanted to comfort him. Struggling through every word, the detective says he could not have been comforted in regards to this. As Edgar continues to monologue his way through his discoveries, we get flashbacks of Augustus killing the men. The first was hung and left out in the cold. It was the aforementioned family who then came and mutilated the body, providing an “extraordinary cover” for Augustus who then had to repeat the macabre rituals in his future killings so as to cast suspicions elsewhere to let him continue to operate undetected.
It soon becomes clear that Edgar does not actually intend to turn him in and instead merely wanted to come here to confront him with the truth. Augustus says he knew this moment would come and that he would apologize to him if asked. However, Edgar continues to push for more answers about how he discovered the identities of the various soldiers. Augustus shares how he tortured the men to get the information he needed before dispatching them. The investigation was always built around his desire to kill them. As Edgar remarks that one man escaped his grasp, Augustus says he did not have the strength to chase him and that he hopes he lives his life looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life. When it comes to the here and now, there is little hope to be found in the future for either of these broken men.
The Truth Will Not Set Either Free
Edgar says that he has the information to send Augustus directly to the gallows. However, he subsequently burns the note in front of them both. Augustus then begins sobbing, unable to hold onto even a small sliver of composure for any longer. There is no bringing his daughter back and now, with his thirst for vengeance not satiated by his murdering, they each go their separate ways. It is all part of how, in keeping with the dark world that the film places itself, justice is not something that can be so easily achieved. After all this pain and suffering, Augustus will still always be left with a hole in his life that can never be fixed in the way he wants it to. The loss of his daughter drove him to commit violent acts in the hopes that he would find salvation at the end of it, but this was always doomed to fail. The life that he had is forever foreclosed from him and the return of order to the world in the eyes of other characters only makes him more profoundly alone than he has ever been up until now.
Though Edgar will not turn him in, the two will never be able to share a conversation together without this weighty secret poisoning everything. Augustus is aware of this and can only remark that he wished they had met under different circumstances that would have allowed them to become a happy family. When Edgar leaves, he then takes one final pilgrimage to the place where Mattie died and set the entire film in motion. Intercut with flashbacks of his departed daughter and the sun cutting through the snow-covered trees, he stands right on the edge of where she fell. He then releases her ribbon into the wind, a visual representation of him letting go with the only words he can muster being “rest, my love.” It makes clear how, despite all the misdirects and hopes for a modicum of justice, that was never to be the case. Sometimes, the world and all who live in, are doomed to live a life of suffering. For all the ways we tell ourselves there can be a just resolution to the immense injustices that rush into our lives, that ideal is in short supply when smothered by the bleak realities of humanity itself.
The Pale Blue Eye is streaming now on Netflix.