Nightmare Alley
An ambitious carnival man with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words hooks up with a female psychologist who is even more dangerous than he is.
- Released: 2021-12-02
- Runtime: 150 minutes
- Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
- Stars: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, David Strathairn, Holt McCallany, Mark Povinelli, Jim Beaver, Romina Power, Paul Anderson, Tim Blake Nelson, Mary Steenburgen, Clifton Collins Jr., Lara Jean Chorostecki, Drew Nelson, David Hewlett, Troy James, Samantha Rodes, Peter MacNeill, Sarah Mennell, Mike Hill, Caleb Ellsworth-Clark, Dian Bachar, Matthew MacCallum, Linden Porco, Jesse Buck, Stephen McHattie, Bill MacDonald, Natalie Brown, Perry Mucci, Dan Lett, Catherine McGregor, Martin Julien, Tim Post, Will Conlon, Daniel Falk, James Collins, Lili Connor, Danny Waugh, Walter Rinaldi, Andrew Locke, Calvin Desautels, Derrick Moore, Grant Bradley, Dani Klupsch, Vikki Ring, Vanessa Botbyl, Michael Bridgeman, Charles Langille, Paul Taylor, Clyde Whitham, Romina Power
- Director: Guillermo del Toro
Comments
- jpismyname - 30 December 2022
Beautiful, engrossing film
Nightmare Alley is set in the 1940s. Bradley Cooper plays a carnival worker named Stanton Carlisle, who later becomes a fraud mentalist. He then meets some new clients, who then try to expose the truth of his work. The movie is based on a 1946 novel.
The cast is full of Academy Award nominees and winners, and they are all fantastic, my favorite being Cate Blanchett's enigmatic character. Bradley Cooper did a perfect job as the self-centered and possibly evil magician. The cinematography is stunning and artistic.
Before I watched this yesterday on Disney Plus, I've barely seen the trailer and I never knew about the novel so I was expecting a horror movie based on the title alone. But I was wrong. It's the tragic tale of a sham magician who gets his karma in the end. The story is a slow burn and has a simple narrative, but it catches my interest until the end of the movie. I really love it, especially the climax when the lies catch up on him. Guillermo del Toro is a gifted storyteller.
Definitely recommend this movie. - WeskersWaifu - 25 November 2022
Do Not Sleep On This Noir Masterpiece
The only reason I haven't given this movie a 10 out of 10 is because it can be slow in parts, alas a tad bit boring in those moments but if for nothing else any fan of Noir or Thriller movies NEED to watch this film. Cate Blanchett is superb, her role as a psychologist was, in the least to say, breath taking. The whole movie was haunting, thrilling, sad and just beautiful.
The casting choices were on point, the acting, directing, the script was excellent and it truly was a film that was difficult to turn away from. It is the ending though that you'll forever remember if you watch it and it will make you want to watch it again. I have always loved Noir/Neo-Noir films and this is certainly one of my favourites.
