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Dec 17, 2021 · Carlos Aguilar December 17, 2021. Tweet. Now streaming on: Powered by JustWatch. By the time a mystifying Bradley Cooper utters his first line of dialogue as Stan Carlisle, several minutes into Guillermo del Toro’s lavishly configured take on “Nightmare Alley,” we’ve already seen the character drag a corpse and set a house on fire.
Dec 17, 2021 · While it may not hit quite as hard as the original, Guillermo del Toro's Nightmare Alley is a modern noir thriller with a pleasantly pulpy spin. Read Critics Reviews. Stylish but slow,...
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88% Tomatometer 64 Reviews 86% Audience Score 1,000+ Ratings Roustabout Stanton Carlisle (Tyrone Power) joins a traveling carny and unsuccessfully schemes to figure out the mind-reading act of ...
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Dec 2, 2021 · Dec 2, 2021 2:11am PT. Critics Pick. ‘Nightmare Alley’ Review: Guillermo del Toro Taps Bradley Cooper’s Dark Side in This Bravura Carnival Noir. The 'Shape of Water' director assembles a...
- The brutality of man is horror enough.
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By Amelia Emberwing
Updated: Dec 3, 2021 8:20 pm
Posted: Dec 2, 2021 7:13 pm
This is a spoiler-free review of Guillermo del Toro's Nightmare Alley, which will debut in theaters on Dec. 17.
How does a horror maestro and king of the macabre shift from a longtime supernatural stint to a film solely rooted in reality? Pretty damn easily, it turns out. Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley — his first film since his Academy Award-winning The Shape of Water — delivers as a meaty neo-noir, even if his usual spectacle isn’t as present as some may expect.
Stanton (Stan) Carlisle is a silver-tongued carny who craves the better things in life. He works his way up from the wreckage of his childhood home, to the freakshow where he meets his beloved Molly Cahill, and eventually to the big city where he’ll cross paths with the scintillating Dr. Lilith Ritter. But as Stan (Bradley Cooper) grows, so does his hubris.
Pan’s Labyrinth
The Devil’s Backbone
The Shape of Water
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Crimson Peak
Other -- let us know in the comments.
While I can’t say that Nightmare Alley doesn’t earn its runtime (at two hours and 20 minutes), it does struggle from a bit of imbalance. Its first act is the best and brightest by far. Narratively, Stan and Molly had to leave the freakshow, but the rest of the film lacks the same kind of pizazz. The sparkle of New York seems dull against the gritty, human backdrop of Stan and Molly’s roots. In the metaphorical sense, that was very likely intentional. In execution, though, several later moments feel lacking.
Still, its themes are where Nightmare Alley truly shines. Del Toro challenged himself with making something so rooted in reality, and it’s impossible to question his execution. The film delivers jaw-droppingly brutal punishments while delightfully humming the old adage that “nice is different than good.” Death is present here — how could it not be in a del Toro joint? — but it’s not the key player. This is about comeuppance and suffering. Not to be morbid, but that suffering is delicious. It’s palpable and so well-earned that it’s hard to leave the film unsatisfied.
If you thought the macabre would be set to the side along with the supernatural, worry not. Not only does Nightmare Alley deliver on the gruesomeness you’ve come to expect from Guillermo del Toro, its presence is rooted heavily in one of the film’s key themes. The brutality of man, both in passivity and direct action, is on sharp display throughout. Casual, quiet murder meets savage violence – all of which is presented in a full, practical buffet, of course.
Despite the aforementioned imbalance and the fact that some viewers may find themselves wanting the show to go on at a little bit of a faster clip, the finale of Nightmare Alley is a triumph. All of the quiet barbarism is met by the kind of punishment that death could only hope to be. The final moments of despair are combined with such sweet schadenfreude that it’s difficult not to leave the theater without at least a little bit of a grin on your face.
While different from Guillermo del Toro's typical supernatural and sci-fi tales, Nightmare Alley stays firmly rooted in the reality. The brutality of man is on stark display here, but it's no match for the film's femme fatale and its kindly lead. Though it's slow in parts and suffers from a bit of an imbalance from act to act, the finale delivers a...
30 Videos. 99+ Photos. Crime Drama Thriller. A grifter working his way up from low-ranking carnival worker to lauded psychic medium matches wits with a psychologist bent on exposing him. Director. Guillermo del Toro. Writers. Guillermo del Toro. Kim Morgan. William Lindsay Gresham. Stars. Bradley Cooper. Cate Blanchett. Toni Collette.
Nightmare Alley Reviews. All Critics. Top Critics. All Audience. Verified Audience. Savina Petkova A Good Movie To Watch. In addition to its thrilling plot and studded cast, Nightmare...
