Directed By Guillermo Del Toro

Starring – Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette

The Plot – When charismatic but down-on-his-luck Stanton Carlisle (Cooper) endears himself to clairvoyant Zeena (Collette) and her has-been mentalist husband Pete (David Strathairn) at a traveling carnival, he crafts a golden ticket to success, using this newly acquired knowledge to grift the wealthy elite of 1940s New York society. With the virtuous Molly (Rooney Mara) loyally by his side, Stanton plots to con a dangerous tycoon (Richard Jenkins) with the aid of a mysterious psychiatrist (Blanchett) who might be his most formidable opponent yet.

Rated R for strong/bloody violence, some sexual content, nudity and adult language

NIGHTMARE ALLEY | Official Trailer | Searchlight Pictures – YouTube

POSITIVES

Set amongst the backdrop of the noir nightscape, Del Toro constructs what is easily his most brutal and possibly terrifying film to date, deconstructing much of the macabre of beasts and paranormal entities for a delve into the human psyche, which is anything predictable. In unraveling such a narrative, Del Toro has much to say about the consequences of our pasts that ultimately come to shapely define us, creating the uncontrollable monsters and ensuing circumstances that plague anyone and anything that comes into contact with their absorbing nature. The monster in question here is from Cooper, who breathtakingly transforms visually and emotionally before our very eyes, while baring a chemical imbalance that constantly eludes that something sinister hangs just beneath the surface of an appearance-driven con that he uses to fool and influence those who base a living off of such notions. Cooper is only surpassed by Blanchett, whose scintillating deliveries and attention-stealing captivity feel virtually lifted from the golden age of cinematic noir offering’s, enhanced by the impeccable chemistry she shares with Cooper that directly influences the palpability of emotions in every scene. As for technical merits, the intricacy of various concepts inside of the set designs of a freakshow carnival provide too rich of an experience when held in contrast with the glitz and glamour of New York City. So much so that no shortage of time or creativity eclipsed an opportunity in presenting a three-dimensional influence to their manifestations, complete with mirroring illusions and ten-foot-tall billboards that paint escapism in the conscience of this underground attraction. This is made all the more alluring with longtime Del-Toro collaborator Dan Laustsen transfixing us with the kind of lucid imagery and hypnotic transitions that cement one of his more experimental schemes of cinematography that the imagination can contain. In particular, the creeping black fades and blueish reflective glow from exterior scenes and sequences grant an other-worldly captivity to the presentation, corresponding beautifully with the timely setting of the Roosevelt age, all the while matching the color consistency of Del Toro’s previous films, but in a way that manufactures a completely diverse pallet of corresponding emotions. Finally, while Del Toro does substitute the supernatural, he doesn’t relent on the devastation that have come to produce no shortage of gripping consequences in the duration of his films. Here, death is very much present, but it’s not the key player in the actions of the characters, instead pertaining to suffering and vengeance with the kind of abruptly blunt brutality that feels as impactful as anything seen in 2021, especially with the aspects of gratuitous make-up and razor-sharp editing to surmise their surprise.

NEGATIVES

At nearly two-and-a-half hours, “Nightmare Alley” does remotely overstay its welcome, but the elements from which it’s defined stem from an uneven balance in the screenplay, which makes the second act stand out dramatically as the inferior weakest link. During this time, the film isn’t bored, but rather heavily expositional in the way it sets up matters for gravitational climax of the third act. This leads to many prolonged interactions that could’ve easily been hemmed with the same results held in tow, but also suppresses beneficial characters that we’ve come to know and appreciate to this point, stranding them during the time when the film needs them most to deviate from the one-sided narrative of Cooper’s, which feels bogged down in repetition during this forty-minute period. With the first and third acts reaching nearly perfection in their emphasis, it makes the trivial plodding of the movie’s middle all the more condemning for the lack of firepower it continuously elicits, grinding gears before finding its proper footing for the climactic final blows. Also problematic to the experience are a series of character motivations and questionable choices that don’t exactly make sense in the context of the intelligence articulated between them in their scams as a carnival worker. Without spoiling anything, there’s one character in particular who is made aware of a series of microphones in a room, then proceeds to incriminate themself with an exposition dump of backstory that should provide fitting for their eventual downfall. This is far from the only example of this aspect, just the single biggest hurdle in the abundance, and ones that I interpret are only there to move the plot forward.

OVERALL

While vastly diverse from Del Toro’s typical supernatural and science fiction frights, “Nightmare Alley” remains firmly rooted in grounded reality, while bringing along the aspects of gruesome brutality and hypnotic style that are a nourishing mainstay in the duration of his iconic vision. Though slow in parts, with more than a few questionable motives during the duration, the climax is one of the more heavy-hitting displays of humbling karma that completes the full circle of its evolving narrative, and with the firepower of a stacked ensemble with Cooper and Blanchett at the forefront of the talents, prove that Guillermo is still a chilling force to be reckoned with.

My Grade: 8/10 or B+