A character who begins a film by burying a dead body beneath the floorboards of a house can't sink much lower. But Stanton Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) is rotten to the core. Over the course of Nightmare Alley, he will continue to believe he can compartmentalize his evil deeds. He will keep falling only to find there is no bottom.
At first, his charm and generous nature seem genuine nature. But he's already giving a masterclass in deception. While toiling away at a carnival, he catalogs away all the tricks taught to him by owner Clem (Willem Dafoe) and psychics Zeena (Toni Collette) and Pete (David Strathairn). He's always looking ahead for something bigger and better. While he wins over literal shock artist Molly (Rooney Mara), she's basically the only one who can't see he's up to no good. Stanton is a man who keeps up appearances until he's gotten everything he can out of a person, then he abandons or kills them.
When he meets a seductive blonde (Cate Blanchett), she takes him down an even darker path. They team up to defraud her rich clients: She gives him their darkest secrets; he pretends to divine this information in private sessions, offering absolution for past sins. But like all good noirs and crime stories, trying to go all in on a big score ups the danger significantly. Stanton moves from well-executed parlor tricks to a long con on an energy baron (Richard Jenkins), risking his business, his partnership with Molly, and his life.
Nightmare Alley is certainly not a pleasant movie, but for cinephiles there are pleasures galore. The production design by Tamara Deverell, Brandt Gordon and Shane Vieau is stunning and deserves to win the Oscar. Dan Laustsen's cinematography manages to give the film a grimy feel despite being shot digitally. And the 1940s costumes are immaculate, giving everyone an appropriate look for wherever they are, even when that look highlights how out of place they are.
And the cast is an embarrassment of riches. Great character actors like Ron Perlman, Clifton Collins Jr and Tim Blake Nelson deliver in small roles. And the film uses actors with real physical extremities to play the carnival workers. This is not one of those films where everyone you see looks like a model slumming it. The film succeeds in making nearly everyone look awful at some point: exhausted, drunk or strung out. (Everyone except Mara, Collette and Blanchett, of course. Because that's impossible.)
The events of the film depict a nightmare, but for fans of Guillermo Del Toro and twisted crime stories, it's a dream come true.
