← Back to results
The Raven
2012 111 min Hungary, Serbia, Spain, United States of America R 18+
★5.8
Crime, Thriller, Mystery
Director: James McTeigue
Trailers
Description
A fictionalized account of the last days of Edgar Allan Poe's life, in which the poet is in pursuit of a serial killer whose murders mirror those in the writer's stories.
Budget:
$26M
US Gross:
$16.01M
Worldwide:
$29.66M
Starring
John Cusack
Actor
Alice Eve
Actor
Luke Evans
Actor
Awards
5 nominations total
Key opinion
The Raven is a gothic detective thriller that earns praise for its atmospheric recreation of 19th-century Baltimore and its creative integration of Edgar Allan Poe's literary motifs into a murder mystery. However, it faces significant criticism for its historical inaccuracies, formulaic thriller tropes, and polarizing lead performance.
| Production | The film excels at building a dark, immersive gothic atmosphere that successfully evokes the mood of Poe's literary world. | |
| Screenplay | The script uses Poe's iconic stories as a clever framework for the murders, adding a thematic layer of intrigue for genre enthusiasts. | |
| Acting | John Cusack's portrayal of Edgar Allan Poe is highly divisive; some find his performance emotionally resonant, while others view it as forced, miscast, and unconvincing. | |
| Pacing | Opinions on the film's pacing and narrative flow are split, with some finding it consistently engaging and others describing it as sluggish or disjointed. | |
| Adaptation | The film prioritizes a fictionalized, stylized thriller narrative over historical integrity, which leaves viewers seeking a faithful biopic disappointed. |