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.
Stan’s got it down pat though, you see. Armed with a sweet innocent farm boy routine and a mouth full of straight teeth, he easily works his way through anyone who can get him a leg up. But as Nightmare Alley will call out several times, Stan’s got pieces missin’, and nobody he tries to use to fill the void quite meets his needs.
Cooper works through his character’s troubles with ease as he effortlessly switches between sinister and sincere. But it’s Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett (as Molly and Lilith respectively) whose portrayals shine the brightest. You never stop rooting for Molly and her kindness, and Lilith is worth dying for as Nightmare Alley’s patented femme fatale. Though her screen time is shorter than her counterparts’, Toni Collette’s Zeena Krumbein earns an honorable mention among the impeccable ensemble, too.
Though the film’s lacking in del Toro’s typical style of stark contrasts, it’s still a spectacle. It seems classic Hollywood homages are in this year! Like Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story (betcha never thought that would be a comparison that would crop up here), Nightmare Alley shows off several vintage artistic tricks. Transitions make use of creeping black fade frames while Lilith’s office crept right out of a classic picture in both aesthetic and lighting.
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.
from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/3dbSazm
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