# In the Electric Mist
**In the Electric Mist** (French title: *Dans la brume électrique*) is a 2009 crime thriller directed by Bertrand Tavernier, adapted from [James Lee Burke](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-lee-burke)'s 1993 novel *In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead*, the sixth book in his Dave Robicheaux series. It stars [Tommy Lee Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/tommy-lee-jones) as Robicheaux, a Louisiana detective investigating the murders of young women while haunted by visions of Confederate soldiers and a decades-old racial killing.[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/83705/) • [2](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/james-lee-burke/in-the-electric-mist-with-confederate-dead/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director | Bertrand Tavernier (1941–2021), his first American fiction film[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/83705/) • [3](https://www.cinechronicle.com/2013/10/rencontre-avec-bertrand-tavernier-et-thierry-lhermitte-autour-de-quai-dorsay-82043/) |
| Source | James Lee Burke's novel *In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead* (Hyperion, April 15, 1993; 352 pages), sixth Robicheaux book[2](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/james-lee-burke/in-the-electric-mist-with-confederate-dead/) • [4](https://download.magicbook.com.ua/?p=WENhWTVlU1lFVk1lazc0MWxnWG5CM1IzVHlHMUlZbENMTnNiUDl4dUlDRjhaMFFtaTgzbEtFd1UybkJkd0FPZmt1bEhMNFJqQ0VrdWdRT1AvQjVVRnByZXQ1RytlRzByWmZTcXM3UnhGQmZUYkNjWittdHUxUitQQm4zOU5OTmxiRUR0RjVUWUxOcHlxM2RYaVhidVFYdkZPYkFuWms3Y2ZuMG9MdFJGMzJOU1RLdXFzM2Rmdkp1NC8xR21tM0ZFcDYvR1N0THhzeFdxSVRIOUYxYUFjdm90VHZ6cjU3bmlPanNnckUyVFBjU0t3Nk12d2RxZTRVcVBaak5rNnVmNHdsZytIN25TRERncjZWVGhWdldjL3pXT004SHE1Q0ZVdy9CaTJNY3RwVGhndVZlN3FyRWJrOE5oMk52bkJWREtLQ21XMWZ5aWpIK1E4Y2c2VDJENS9BPT0%3D) |
| Setting | New Iberia, Louisiana, relocated from the novel's early-1990s setting to post-Hurricane Katrina Louisiana[5](https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts/in-the-electric-mist-1.549891) |
| Principal cast | Tommy Lee Jones (Dave Robicheaux), John Goodman (Julie "Baby Feet" Balboni), Peter Sarsgaard (Elrod Sykes), Mary Steenburgen, Kelly Macdonald, Ned Beatty, Levon Helm[6](https://www.netflix.com/title/70112380) |
| Premiere | In competition at the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/83705/) |
| Runtime and rating | 117 minutes; rated R in the United States[7](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/in-the-electric-mist) |
| Release | France, April 15, 2009; United States, straight to DVD in a shorter producer's cut[8](https://medias.unifrance.org/medias/113/148/38001/presse/dans-la-brume-electrique-dossier-de-presse-francais.pdf) • [9](https://www.screendaily.com/in-the-electric-mist/4042979.article?storyCode=4042979) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Detective Dave Robicheaux of New Iberia, Louisiana, investigates the murder of a young prostitute and suspects the New Orleans mobster Julie "Baby Feet" Balboni, who has returned to the parish as co-producer of a Civil War film shot by Hollywood director [Michael Goldman](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-goldman).[2](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/james-lee-burke/in-the-electric-mist-with-confederate-dead/) The film's star, the alcoholic Elrod Sykes, is pulled over for drunk driving and tells Robicheaux he has found a corpse in the Atchafalaya Swamp: the body of a black man in chains, whom Robicheaux believes is a man he saw murdered 35 years earlier.[2](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/james-lee-burke/in-the-electric-mist-with-confederate-dead/) • [10](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0910905/plotsummary/)
Convinced that Balboni links the old killing and the new serial murders of prostitutes, Robicheaux goes outside the law to pursue him, is suspended after a shootout, and holds conversations with the specter of a Confederate general, played by [Levon Helm](https://www.edgepedia.org/levon-helm), whom Sykes has also encountered in the bayou.[2](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/james-lee-burke/in-the-electric-mist-with-confederate-dead/) • [11](https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/in-the-electric-mist-review/8kmyzrl8l) The film's supernatural element, the ghostly Confederate soldiers, is fused with the crime investigation; one reviewer called that fusion "for the most part, very effective."[12](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/in-the-electric-mist-film-review-by-adam-micklethwaite)
## The novel and the adaptation
James Lee Burke's *In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead* was published by Hyperion on April 15, 1993. Kirkus described it as a "violent, somber, deeply satisfying crossover novel" in which Robicheaux's visions of the Confederate dead bring a Faulknerian resonance to his encounters with evil.[2](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/james-lee-burke/in-the-electric-mist-with-confederate-dead/) It is the sixth book in the Robicheaux series.[4](https://download.magicbook.com.ua/?p=WENhWTVlU1lFVk1lazc0MWxnWG5CM1IzVHlHMUlZbENMTnNiUDl4dUlDRjhaMFFtaTgzbEtFd1UybkJkd0FPZmt1bEhMNFJqQ0VrdWdRT1AvQjVVRnByZXQ1RytlRzByWmZTcXM3UnhGQmZUYkNjWittdHUxUitQQm4zOU5OTmxiRUR0RjVUWUxOcHlxM2RYaVhidVFYdkZPYkFuWms3Y2ZuMG9MdFJGMzJOU1RLdXFzM2Rmdkp1NC8xR21tM0ZFcDYvR1N0THhzeFdxSVRIOUYxYUFjdm90VHZ6cjU3bmlPanNnckUyVFBjU0t3Nk12d2RxZTRVcVBaak5rNnVmNHdsZytIN25TRERncjZWVGhWdldjL3pXT004SHE1Q0ZVdy9CaTJNY3RwVGhndVZlN3FyRWJrOE5oMk52bkJWREtLQ21XMWZ5aWpIK1E4Y2c2VDJENS9BPT0%3D)
Tavernier, a longtime admirer of Burke, said he had hesitated between *Dixie City* and this title before choosing it, and that Burke told him it was the book of which he was, at the time, the proudest.[8](https://medias.unifrance.org/medias/113/148/38001/presse/dans-la-brume-electrique-dossier-de-presse-francais.pdf) The screenplay is by Jerzy Kromolowski and Mary Olson-Kromolowski, with cinematography by Bruno de Keyzer and music by [Marco Beltrami](https://www.edgepedia.org/marco-beltrami); the producers were Michael Fitzgerald and Frédéric Bourboulon.[9](https://www.screendaily.com/in-the-electric-mist/4042979.article?storyCode=4042979)
**Updating the setting.** The novel was set in the early 1990s, but Tavernier and his writers moved the action to post-Hurricane Katrina Louisiana, which adds a sociopolitical layer: the plot touches on mob corruption, racist crimes, prostitution, and the looting of reconstruction money after the hurricane.[5](https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts/in-the-electric-mist-1.549891) • [12](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/in-the-electric-mist-film-review-by-adam-micklethwaite) Tavernier said he deliberately avoided the familiar [French Quarter](https://www.edgepedia.org/french-quarter) imagery of New Orleans and instead showed, among other things, a man reselling FEMA rations in an abandoned church.[8](https://medias.unifrance.org/medias/113/148/38001/presse/dans-la-brume-electrique-dossier-de-presse-francais.pdf)
## Two versions and release history
The film premiered in competition at the 2009 [Berlin International Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/berlin-international-film-festival) under its French title, *Dans la brume électrique*.[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/83705/) It was released in France on April 15, 2009, in a 117-minute version.[8](https://medias.unifrance.org/medias/113/148/38001/presse/dans-la-brume-electrique-dossier-de-presse-francais.pdf) In the United States it went straight to DVD in March 2009 in a shorter producer's cut; Screen Daily reported this cut at 102 minutes, while another review gives 104 minutes.[9](https://www.screendaily.com/in-the-electric-mist/4042979.article?storyCode=4042979) • [13](https://agostonsfilmodyssey.com/2021/05/29/louisiana-noir-in-the-electric-mist/) The longer version circulated in other territories, and a [Cambridge University Press](https://www.edgepedia.org/cambridge-university-press) study of Tavernier distinguishes the director's *Dans la brume électrique* from the American producer's DVD-only *In the Electric Mist*, noting that the two versions open differently and treat the long-buried racial murder in contrasting ways.[14](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/bertrand-tavernier/citizen-tavernier/6280E547F7EFE9E938BFA43215029B13)
Tavernier described the American experience as difficult, citing production-system burdens and guild rules, and said the film was released in the United States only on DVD in the producer's truncated version.[15](https://www.leparisien.fr/culture-loisirs/l-odyssee-americaine-de-bertrand-tavernier-16-04-2009-480777.php) He later said the difficult American shoot gave him the strength to return to France for his next project.[16](https://www.panorama-cinema.com/V2/article.php?categorie=1&id=115)
## Reception
Critical response was divided. The National found "plenty of atmosphere but not much tension" and compared the film unfavorably with *No Country for Old Men*, which had also featured Jones and [Kelly Macdonald](https://www.edgepedia.org/kelly-macdonald) in similar roles.[5](https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts/in-the-electric-mist-1.549891) Screen Daily called it a sluggish and confusing attempt to fuse the crime investigation with supernatural fantasy, while praising Tavernier's effort to evoke a real rather than a genre Louisiana.[9](https://www.screendaily.com/in-the-electric-mist/4042979.article?storyCode=4042979) SBS credited the film's authenticity and its casting of Louisiana character actors with overcoming a convoluted plot.[11](https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/in-the-electric-mist-review/8kmyzrl8l) Cineuropa's review called it a captivating thriller by a European director who mastered the conventions of the American detective film.[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/83705/) On aggregators it holds a 66 percent critics score and a 6.1 user rating on [JustWatch](https://www.edgepedia.org/justwatch).[7](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/in-the-electric-mist)
The film has since been described as a "lost gem" and is often mentioned alongside the first season of *True Detective* for its Louisiana bayou atmosphere.[13](https://agostonsfilmodyssey.com/2021/05/29/louisiana-noir-in-the-electric-mist/)
## References
1. [In the Electric Mist (Dans la brume électrique), Cineuropa film profile](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/83705/)
2. [In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead, Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/james-lee-burke/in-the-electric-mist-with-confederate-dead/)
3. [Rencontre avec Bertrand Tavernier et Thierry Lhermitte autour de Quai d'Orsay, CineChronicle](https://www.cinechronicle.com/2013/10/rencontre-avec-bertrand-tavernier-et-thierry-lhermitte-autour-de-quai-dorsay-82043/)
4. [James Lee Burke, bibliography listing In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead as the sixth Robicheaux book](https://download.magicbook.com.ua/?p=WENhWTVlU1lFVk1lazc0MWxnWG5CM1IzVHlHMUlZbENMTnNiUDl4dUlDRjhaMFFtaTgzbEtFd1UybkJkd0FPZmt1bEhMNFJqQ0VrdWdRT1AvQjVVRnByZXQ1RytlRzByWmZTcXM3UnhGQmZUYkNjWittdHUxUitQQm4zOU5OTmxiRUR0RjVUWUxOcHlxM2RYaVhidVFYdkZPYkFuWms3Y2ZuMG9MdFJGMzJOU1RLdXFzM2Rmdkp1NC8xR21tM0ZFcDYvR1N0THhzeFdxSVRIOUYxYUFjdm90VHZ6cjU3bmlPanNnckUyVFBjU0t3Nk12d2RxZTRVcVBaak5rNnVmNHdsZytIN25TRERncjZWVGhWdldjL3pXT004SHE1Q0ZVdy9CaTJNY3RwVGhndVZlN3FyRWJrOE5oMk52bkJWREtLQ21XMWZ5aWpIK1E4Y2c2VDJENS9BPT0%3D)
5. [In the Electric Mist, The National (Stephen Dalton, 2010)](https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts/in-the-electric-mist-1.549891)
6. [In the Electric Mist, Netflix title page](https://www.netflix.com/title/70112380)
7. [In the Electric Mist streaming, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/in-the-electric-mist)
8. [Dans la brume électrique press kit, UniFrance](https://medias.unifrance.org/medias/113/148/38001/presse/dans-la-brume-electrique-dossier-de-presse-francais.pdf)
9. [In the Electric Mist, Screen Daily review](https://www.screendaily.com/in-the-electric-mist/4042979.article?storyCode=4042979)
10. [In the Electric Mist (2009) plot summary, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0910905/plotsummary/)
11. [In the Electric Mist Review, SBS What's On (Simon Foster)](https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/in-the-electric-mist-review/8kmyzrl8l)
12. [In the Electric Mist review, Eye for Film (Adam Micklethwaite)](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/in-the-electric-mist-film-review-by-adam-micklethwaite)
13. [Louisiana Noir – In the Electric Mist, Ágoston's Film Odyssey](https://agostonsfilmodyssey.com/2021/05/29/louisiana-noir-in-the-electric-mist/)
14. [Lynn Anthony Higgins, "Citizen Tavernier," in Bertrand Tavernier, Manchester University Press](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/bertrand-tavernier/citizen-tavernier/6280E547F7EFE9E938BFA43215029B13)
15. [L'odyssée américaine de Bertrand Tavernier, Le Parisien](https://www.leparisien.fr/culture-loisirs/l-odyssee-americaine-de-bertrand-tavernier-16-04-2009-480777.php)
16. [Entrevue avec Bertrand Tavernier (Partie 2), Panorama-Cinéma](https://www.panorama-cinema.com/V2/article.php?categorie=1&id=115)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2005–2009 films › Released 2008 to 2009*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license