Based on the well-known novel written by Agatha Christie, The Pale Horse begins with an older woman dying in the streets. While investigators search the woman’s body and seek out the cause of death, they find a piece of paper that contains a list of names located in one of the woman’s shoes. One of the names appearing on this list is a man named Mark Easterbrook (Rufus Sewell). Mark is an antiques dealer, alive and well in England. When Mark hears about this unusual death and the mysterious list, he begins his own investigation, questioning why his name was even written on this list. As he investigates, he begins to fear that perhaps his death could be next. Mark also questions those around him and even wonders if any of these strange occurrences have something to do with his dark past.
While Mark investigates, he travels to a small village known as “Much Deeping,” where he suspects three fortune-telling ladies could be involved. Topics such as faith and the use of witchcraft or curses are also hinted at being involved. Mark also continues to receive word that more deaths are occurring, all from people who were also on the strange list. Can Mark work out this unusual mystery? Why and how is Mark connected to all these deaths? The Pale Horse is a TV movie with two episodes, each lasting an hour. Thanks to Umbrella Entertainment, this mini-series has now been released on DVD and can be watched as a standard feature film.
Rufus Sewell’s leading performance is easily the best highlight of this miniseries. I found his performance as Mark refreshing and strong. At times, this character seems quite confident, but at other times, I feel his desperation and paranoia. It is a nice transition as a character, and I felt the actor nailed this character wonderfully.
As a plot, I engaged with this mini-series from Episode One. With such mysteries, I found myself quite invested in the story and the leading character of Mark. I was curious to know the truth and was eager to begin the next episode immediately after the first one ended.
While I have praised the film’s leading performance and how I found the story to be quite engaging, the film’s ending (without any spoilers) was rather disappointing to me. Considering what was built up and how much I enjoyed most of the two episodes, I was guttered at how this series ended. Not because I did not enjoy the film’s plot or reveal but because the way it was done feels rather poor and inconsistent with everything that occurred before. It is, in fact, the film’s final moments that hurt this series the most and leaves many unanswered questions for its audiences.
Overall, as a mini-series, The Pale Horse is quite pleasing as a mystery and thriller. The plot is fun, and it did not take long for me to invest in the series. The performance from Rufus Sewell was powerful and wonderful. For the most part, I enjoyed the entire journey, but I cannot deny how much I disliked how the series ended, not because of its plot but more to do with how they decided to film it and the editing choices in the final act, which still leave me feeling somewhat baffled.
6.7/10
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