Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- brooding
- eerie
- oppressive
- dark mystery night
- rainy evening
What critics said
Critics broadly praised Tommy Lee Jones's performance and the film's authentic Southern atmosphere while finding its convoluted mystery disappointing.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The Louisiana bayou setting, ghostly Confederate soldiers, serial killings, and racial violence create a distinctly Southern Gothic atmosphere.
Dave Robicheaux investigates a 1965 lynching while remembering that he witnessed the killing as a child.
Robicheaux repeatedly encounters ghostly Confederate soldiers during his investigation, without the film fully stabilizing their reality.
The investigation includes the 1965 lynching of a Black man alongside present-day murders and corrupt local businessmen.
Films like In the Electric Mist, and why
Angel Heart
southern gothic crime investigation with a haunted atmosphere and morally troubled detective
True Detective: Season 1
brooding detective mystery combining serial killings, regional corruption, and psychological unease
Cape Fear
dark bayou-set crime thriller centered on violence, guilt, and a determined investigator
The Little Things
atmospheric neo-noir mystery shaped by racial history and spiritual ambiguity
Movie Details
- Director
- Bertrand Tavernier
- Release Date
- 2009-04-15
- Runtime
- 117 min
- Rating
- 6.1 / 10 (482)
Cast
- Tommy Lee Jones
- John Goodman
- Peter Sarsgaard
- Mary Steenburgen
- Kelly Macdonald
- Justina Machado
- Ned Beatty
- James Gammon
- Pruitt Taylor Vince
- Levon Helm
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is In the Electric Mist about?
- A haunted Louisiana detective confronts serial murder, buried racial violence, and the ghosts of a corrupted Southern past.
- What is In the Electric Mist like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of In the Electric Mist as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is In the Electric Mist violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in In the Electric Mist as graphic.
- What did critics think of In the Electric Mist?
- Critics broadly praised Tommy Lee Jones's performance and the film's authentic Southern atmosphere while finding its convoluted mystery disappointing.
- Which films are like In the Electric Mist?
- Films with a similar feel include Angel Heart, True Detective: Season 1, Cape Fear, and The Little Things.
- How long is In the Electric Mist?
- In the Electric Mist runs 117 minutes.
- Where can I watch In the Electric Mist?
- In United States, In the Electric Mist is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube.
