When you win an Academy Award for Best Directing, you can do pretty much anything you want regarding creative control as a director. Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Crimson Peak) has elevated himself to the point where his constraints have been lifted. Following his Best Director Academy Award (The Shape of Water), del Toro could have picked whatever project he wanted to do next, and he would have had swarms of A-list actors lined up to work with him. Ironically, with Nightmare Alley, he went about as mainstream as he’s ever gone before. This is not to say this 2021 Best Picture nominee isn’t without its share of the bizarre.
In a year when the Best Picture nominees were far from great, Nightmare Alley was a product you saw getting a nomination but didn’t have much of a chance of winning. This year, we’ve witnessed nominees across all categories who have received nominations based on name recognition as much as anything. In a way, Nightmare Alley isn’t an exception. Though he didn’t earn a Best Director nomination here, The Academy loves del Toro. Nightmare Alley earned four Academy Awards and has an excellent chance to win either Production Design or Costume Design. And it should win both of these awards. However, as a whole, the movie has a certain sense of memorability. Unlike some of his previous works, I exited this movie feeling satisfied and knowing I’d likely forget most of what I saw shortly after. You’ll probably feel similar.
The setting is neat. I love a carnival movie. A carnival movie set in the late 1930s (before the advent of technology such as cell phones) presents a new kind of wow. Our lead is Stan (Bradley Cooper – American Sniper, A Star is Born), a traveling con man who latches on as a carnie with a regional traveling carnival. In the film’s first scene, we see Stan dragging a corpse into an isolated house, burning to the ground. del Toro makes us aware of this, though none of the film’s characters know this side of him. del Toro does this to make us aware of Stan’s darker side since he’s affable with the other characters in the carnival. He’s a likable guy, though we never trust him. Much of the movie’s success lies in the rich characters del Toro creates. Such an example is Willem Dafoe’s (At Eternity’s Gate, The Lighthouse) Clem, an unearthly sort of man who draws viewers to see his geek (which we learn is a maltreated alcoholic who will kill a live opium-laced chicken with his bare teeth.
Another is Molly (Rooney Mara – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Carol), whose act allows others to watch her body convulse as electrical charges run through it. We have, perhaps, the ensemble of the year, and it is evident. However, Stan is our star. Trying to find his niche, he latches on with Zeena (Toni Collette – Hereditary, Knives Out and Pete (David Straithairn – Good Night, Good Luck, Nomadland), a married couple whose act is being clairvoyant to the crowd. He learns the ins and outs of reading a crowd through observation and direct teachings from the couple who tell him when and when not to use his newfound knowledge. But of course, this is a foreboding warning, since the swindler Stan and Molly, with who he has become smitten with. The two take their show, and our story uses this foundation for the remainder of the movie.
Nightmare Alley delivers an ominous tone with charismatic characters who bring life to the story that might otherwise fall flat. However, the story itself is a letdown. In a certain way, we can see it coming from a mile away. However, I’m not sure we care much about what happens in another way. While the performances are superb, there is little investment in any of the characters. We know something will happen to Stan and, because of the film’s first scene, it probably won’t be good.
The aroma of Nightmare Alley is excellent. It gives a sense of comfortable creepiness. The characters will attract and hold your interest. If you can appreciate the parts (mood, costumes, sets, characters), you’ll be able to see past a story that doesn’t offer much.
Plot 8.5/10
Character Development 8.5/10
Character Chemistry 8/10
Acting 9/10
Screenplay 8/10
Directing 8.5/10
Cinematography 10/10
Sound 9/10
Hook and Reel 8/10
Universal Relevance 9/10
84.5%
Movies You Might Like If You Liked This Movie