Nightmare Alley (2021)

[nialla42]

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Guillermo Del Toro's latest is based on the 1946 novel of the same name, and is the second adaptation after a 1947 film. Del Toro always has a thing for monsters, but there are no literal ones in this one. As always, the human ones are the worst monsters.

This one had a theatrical release in December 2021, but is now available on Hulu and HBO Max. Very quick move that I'm sure is yet another COVID related thing. It's up for an Oscar for Best Picture, and I'm wondering if the theatrical release was more of a formality, then on to streaming for a wider audience.

The opening has Stanton Carlisle disposing of a body before burning down a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, before heading out and ending up working as a carnie. He learns all the ins and out of the trade, specifically the "mind reader" bit with a code for a partner in the audience to pass the clairvoyant info to read an audience member. Stan becomes interested in Molly, a woman who performs with electricity, and proposes that they head out and do their own clairvoyant act, but for a higher class of clientele.

As he becomes more successful, he eventually expands the con with private readings for wealthy clients, which sees him vetted by Dr. Lilith Ritter, a psychologist who attempts to expose him. She's unable to do so, but as a noir femme fatale (Cate Blanchett), she's intrigued by him, and eventually offers some of the recordings of her clients for Stan to do even more convincing cons.

At one point, a potential client has a doctor hook Stan up to a polygraph machine. You can see a bit of that scene in the trailer, with David Hewlett as the doctor. The majority of his scene is in the clip, but it was nice to see him again. He was also in Del Toro's The Shape of Water, and the director likes to user actors multiple times, so maybe we'll be seeing him in a future film.

I will say it felt a bit slow in places, but I think that may be because while the twists were good, I could see the majority of them coming, so drawing it out didn't always work for me. The only twist I didn't see coming was one that wasn't outright explained onscreen, and it wasn't until I read a review that I made the connection. Great cast and overall good plot, so worth a watch if you've got access.