Christian Bale is known for going above and beyond when it comes to physically preparing for his various roles. He will lose weight, gain weight, and even let his nails grow much too long in order to give the performance of a lifetime (or just that month…he’s in a lot of movies). But Bale’s latest transformation is a little more subtle: he has a beard. And a lot of fear behind his eyes!
Bale stars in The Pale Blue Eye, a new Netflix film from director Scott Cooper, director of the equally chilling Antlers. Bale portrays Augustus Landor, a detective who is investigating a mysterious death in one of the scariest places in the world: Upstate New York in the middle of winter. There, he receives help from the famously creepy and dark-minded Edgar Allen Poe.
The movie features an impressive cast including Harry Melling, Gillian Anderson, Timothy Spall, and Robert Duvall. As per the official description:
West Point, 1830. A world-weary detective is hired to discreetly investigate the gruesome murder of a cadet. Stymied by the cadets’ code of silence, he enlists one of their own to help unravel the case — a young man the world would come to know as Edgar Allan Poe.
The Pale Blue Eye will get a limited theatrical release on December 23rd, and will be available on Netflix beginning January 6th. Check out the trailer above.
