Last night I went back to my favorite art house theater to see Nightmare Alley, a neo-noir thriller by director Guillermo del Toro that I really enjoyed. After disposing of a body and setting fire to his house, Stan Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) takes a bus going anywhere and joins the traveling carnival at the end of the line owned by Clem (Willem Dafoe). At first he does odd jobs but soon he is drawn to a clairvoyant named Madame Zeema (Toni Collette) and her mentalist husband Pete (David Strathairn). He assists with their act and asks that they teach him their techniques for conning the audience. When he becomes involved with Molly (Rooney Mara), a fellow performer, he suggests that they leave the carnival and use these techniques in a more lucrative setting and she eventually agrees. After a psychologist named Lilith Ritter (Cate Blanchett) attempts to expose him during a performance in a swanky nightclub, Stan conspires with her to con Ezra Grindle (Richard Jenkins), a wealthy but dangerous businessman with a secret only she knows. But who is conning who? Del Toro once again effectively emphasizes that monsters are often not who or what we think they are and I loved the juxtaposition between the grotesque at the carnival and the glittering Art Deco interiors in the city. I also really enjoyed the stylized cinematography, the atmospheric lighting design, and the menacing sound design. The entire cast is outstanding but Cooper is particularly good as a man who cannot outrun his past (his performance in the final scene is absolutely devastating) and Blanchett is the perfect femme fatale. It is absolutely fascinating to watch them manipulate each other. If you are a fan of del Toro, you are sure to enjoy this mesmerizing tale about the dark side of human nature.
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