The Super Powered Fancast

Nightmare Alley

Fox Searchlight Pictures

Written by William Lindsay Gresham, Guillermo del Toro and Kim Morgan

Directed by Guillermo del Toro

Starring Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, Davis Strathairn, Clifton Collins Jr, Holt McCallany and Mark Povinelli

Rated R

An ambitious carny with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words hooks up with a female psychiatrist who is even more dangerous than he is.

The latest film from Guillermo del Toro is an intense, atmospheric noir style thriller that has a lot of the same visual aesthetics as some of his other work including Crimson Peak and The Shape of Water.

Nightmare Alley stars Bradley Cooper as Stanton Carlisle, a man who is harboring some dark secrets and a past that forces him to go on the run and join a traveling carnival. Once there, he meets Molly (Mara) and begins to slowly become a part of the crew taking a job with Zeena (Collette) and her partner Pete (Strathairn) who run the psychic attraction. After learning the tricks of the trade and removing Pete from the equation, Stanton starts to get a level of fame and respect from his fellow carnies. Del Toro does a brilliant job with the look of this world and the environment within the carnival is filled with an ominous darkness that permeates the film.

Eventually, Stanton and Molly leave the carnival and Stanton takes his act to the city where he quickly gets fame reading fortunes for the crowd. When Dr. Ritter (Blanchett) catches his act, she attempts to debunk it. A moment that is filled with tension and leads the characters into an unusual working relationship with Ritter wanting to learn more about Stanton while giving him inside information about her rich and powerful clients. The moments between Cooper and Blanchett have a quiet danger behind them that is engaging. Their chemistry is great and the dialogue is top form for the genre. Willem Dafoe has a small but interesting role in the film and every moment he’s on the screen is electric.

The film takes a series of darker turns when Stanton becomes involved with the rich and powerful Ezra Grindle (Jenkins) who has some dark and shocking secrets of his own that Stanton’s desire to learn about alienates his straining relationship with Molly, brings him to a dangerous dependency on Ritter and deeper into a dangerous game he’s playing with Grindle. The tension throughout this film is palpable and the growing relationship with Dr. Ritter makes every move Stanton makes more dangerous. Del Toro does a wonderful job of showing the dangers Stanton faces while also showcasing how dangerous he is as well.

The story has a wonderful look and cinematic feel throughout and moves with great purpose as it sets up its characters, conflicts and mystery. There is a moment in the second act that slows down the film’s momentum, but it doesn’t take too much away from the bigger themes of the film and its characters.

Nightmare Alley is a great classic film noir mystery that looks beautiful, is brilliantly acted and atmospheric throughout. The film is an interesting and entertaining morality play and where it takes the viewer at the end is worth the journey to get there.

Nightmare Alley is now available on Digital and will be released on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD March 22.