Review: Guillermo del Toro's 'Nightmare Alley' is a thrilling journey into pulp noir

Nightmare Alley
4 out of 5 Stars
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Writers: Guillermo del Toro, Kim Morgan, William Lindsay Gresham
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Rooney Mara, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe
Genre: Crime, Drama
Rated: R for strong/bloody violence, some sexual content, nudity and language

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) – Synopsis: Stan Carlisle buries his past in a burning shack and aimlessly heads out into the world. By chance he comes across a traveling sideshow where he is inspired to learn the secrets behind mentalism, a skill he will use to milk the rich of their fortunes while preying upon their need for absolution.

Review: It shouldn’t surprise anyone who knows me that I connect with the films of Guillermo del Toro. His sympathy for the outsider (or “the other” as he calls them) is something we share. Why defend or explore the lives of the normal when there are more interesting options lurking just around the bend?

“Nightmare Alley” is different in that its main character, Stan Carlisle (Bradley Cooper), is not presented in a sympathetic light. He’s troubled in a way that accentuates his faults and obscures whatever good might exist within him. He’s charming, that’s 90% of his con. So, when the good-hearted Molly (Rooney Mara), a beauty who performs a living electricity conductor act, goes sweet on Carlisle it’s no surprise. Still, you wish she wouldn’t. You don’t have to know the source material, Lindsay Gresham’s 1946 novel, or the 1947 noir film that followed, to see that Carlisle is no good for Molly. He’s no good for anyone, not even himself.

There is something romantic about a traveling sideshow. The freedom, the unusual characters, and the sense of family. And yet, there is always a darkness that lingers behind the curtain. Those in positions of power prey upon those below them. Clem Hoately (Willem Dafoe), the man in charge, extorts his cast and crew any way that he can. He too is charming.

The rest of the players who populate the sideshow are more appealing. What secrets they might keep are lost behind their weary smiles. Pete Krumbein (David Strathairn), a withered mentalist who is a master at his craft who, having begun to believe his own lies, refuses to perform and takes solace in drinking himself into oblivion. Carlisle, recognizing the potential of Krumbein’s deceptive talents, asks him to teach him the tricks of the trade. Krumbein is charmed. And the world unravels from there as Carlisle’s ambition grows. His schemes become larger, more risky.

By the time Carlisle meets Lilith Ritter (Cate Blanchett), a psychologist who sees through his act, he’s in so deep that there is no turning back. Ritter, however, decides to befriend Carlisle.

“Nightmare Alley” has a tremendous cast. I’ve yet to mention Toni Collette’s Zeena Krumbein, Ron Perlman’s strongman Bruo or Richard Jenkins as the reclusive, rich, and dangerous Ezra Grindle. There’s Holt McCallany as Anderson, Grindle’s enforcer and Mary Steenburgen as a woman desperate to speak to her dead son. All give life and color to the world of “Nightmare Alley.”

Color, however, is not something usually associated with a noir film. Whereas traditional noir films are often black and white, del Toro’s film features some marvelously saturated color. The world he has recreated is rich with texture and detail. It feels tangible. The sets and the costumes are simply exquisite.

But del Toro and co-screenwriter Kim Morgan haven’t simply regurgitated the classic tropes of the noir genre. There is a decidedly modern undercurrent that doesn’t cast the women of the world as damsels in need of saving.

Late in the film, Blanchett delivers a line that might be the most stunning cinematic moment of 2021. The sort of moment where you want to cheer (some of us did) the delivery of the lines. So good.

Make no mistake, “Nightmare Alley” is as dark as its title suggests. It has grotesque moments, splashes of violence, ugliness, and cruelty. It is, after all, the story of a man void of conscience and full of greed as he descends into darkness. Those who dare to wander into the carnival will find themselves rewarded.