The opening scene in Guillermo del Toro’s latest gives a grim introduction to lead Stanton Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) as he drags a wrapped body into the floorboards of a house, then sets the place ablaze. Intentionally presented without context, it casts Stanton in harsh light. That, of course, is by design. Appearances are often deceiving, and nothing is ever as straightforward as it appears with the sprawling cast of Nightmare Alley, a bleak, sometimes meandering road to ruin.
After leaving his burning home, Stanton comes across a carnival and quickly ingratiates himself with owner Clem Hoately (Willem Dafoe). Clem tasks Stanton with the hard labor and often the unsavory tasks, like keeping the grotesque Geek caged and under control. But Stanton is ambitious and begins learning everything he can, especially the secrets behind Zeena (Toni Collette) and Pete’s (Peter Strathairn) fortune-telling act. He wants to use that knowledge to create and act in the big city, creating the opportunity of a bigger con scheme with psychiatrist Lillith Ritter (Cate Blanchett).
Willem Dafoe and Bradley Cooper in the film NIGHTMARE ALLEY. Photo by Kerry Hayes. © 2021 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved
Del Toro and co-writer Kim Morgan give their spin on William Lindsay Gresham’s source novel and lay the groundwork early for Carlisle’s destination. It’s a somber tale of a man so blinded by his pursuits and ambition that he fails to heed the warnings and signs time and time again, despite many along his path spelling it all out for him. Carlisle witnesses firsthand the aftermath of self-blindness in Pete, then Clem details his cruel means of obtaining Geek acts for his carnival- a vital key to this morose tale. Nightmare Alley offers no narrative surprises or twists for the viewer; our anxiety and tension mounts for Stanton’s hubris causing his inability to heed warnings and plow headfirst into danger.
Because of that, del Toro’s latest can be prone to meandering passages that make you feel this movie’s length. And while Stanton’s tale gets morose, with stark bursts of shocking violence, del Toro struggles to capture the cynicism of noir. His trademark romanticism instead pumps through the veins of Nightmare Alley. His expert use of lush production design is also on full display, though the attempts to capture the muted tones of the carnival’s Dust Bowl setting dampens the effect and can obscure some of the exquisite detail.
The only connection to noir’s moody pessimism lies with Blanchett’s Lillith. The actress vamps it up, spinning a deadly web of deceit but grounds it with glimpses of tragic vulnerability. Lillith long ago learned to weaponize her pain through cunning intelligence, making her an unexpected threat in a world of men that employ brute force to achieve power. In a packed cast bearing no shortage of remarkable performances, it speaks volumes that Blanchett is the one that stands out. Any scene with Lillith on screen is electric.
Cooper has the much trickier task with a sharp dramatic arc that ebbs and flows in extreme highs and lows. He nails Stanton’s sleaziest moments and gives a compelling portrayal in the finale but struggles with Stan’s charming side. Collette and Strathairn are heartbreakers, and Richard Jenkins brings intense volatility in the latter half. Nightmare Alley is an actor’s showcase, a film that digs deep into its characters.
It’s the characters that make Nightmare Alley a success. Del Toro paints a sumptuous portrait of two parallel worlds for Stanton to navigate. The harsh but honest- through no less mean- life of a carnie and the alluring though cutthroat big city are both made tangible by the complicated and fully rendered people who inhabit those spaces. The mind games and brutal realities that result in self-discovery across the board. The emotional beats hit hard as all personal revelations hit.
Nightmare Alley offers psychological thrills in a profoundly haunting and intricately woven rumination on society’s dark underbelly, on the pursuit of success and damnation that might lurk at the end. Del Toro occasionally gets lost in giving every emotional beat room to breathe and grow, causing pacing lulls in the middle, especially for a narrative so hyper-focused on Stan’s specific trajectory. Those hoping for conventional, fatalistic noir may come away disappointed; this wholly bears del Toro’s imprint and penchant for stylistic flourishes, symbolism, and melancholic romance. It’s not the filmmaker’s strongest effort, yet it’s still a soaring spectacle that casts a spell.
Nightmare Alley releases in theaters on December 17, 2021.
Editor’s Note: This review was originally published on December 2, 2021.
