"Nightmare Alley" (2021) Directed by Guillermo del Toro

Will you be conned by Guillermo Del Toro and his magnificent film noir?

Guillermo Del Toro (Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water) returns to the cinema screen with a reimagining of a 1947 film of the same name and from the same source novel written by William Gresham a year earlier. I’d loosely describe it as a colourised film noir set just before the onset of World War II and as the film’s first Act ends we are transported two years later into 1941. As with the noir label above, and as with the films of Del Toro as a whole, it’s difficult to fully pinpoint a category or genre for this magnificent film, but with spoilers as always at a bare minimum, here’s a basic entry point and premise:

Circling around the central character of “Stanton Carlisle” (see below) are a host of hardworking grifters, show people, hucksters and con artists who all inhabit a travelling circus and carnival of wonders akin to a historic Barnum and Bailey carnival. You have an “Electric Girl”, archetypal strongmen, dwarves, seers, soothsayers and rather distressingly, a caged and bedraggled human being known simply as the “Geek”. Ostensibly owned and run by “Clement Hoatley” (Willem Dafoe), he is surrounded by a seemingly loyal family within his carnival and star turns are provided by “Zeena Krumbein” (Toni Collette) as a clairvoyant or seer who is aided and abetted with cheat codes and notebooks full of lifelong cons by her husband “Peter Krumbein” (David Strathairn). Whilst our central character falls in love with the Electric Girl in the shape of “Molly Cahill” (Rooney Mara), a host of small supporting cameo roles fall to Richard Jenkins as “Ezra Grindle”, Mary Steenburgen as “Felicia Kimball” and Ron Pearlman as “Bruno”. There are two further characters worthy of a fuller introduction as they intertwine as the film begins its 2nd Act in 1941.

The above two opening paragraphs are taken from my original spoiler free review of "Nightmare Alley" originally penned and published to my Medium blog site on 13th March 2022 and can be read in full and for free (please also consider subscribing for free too!) via my Substack blog site and original article linked immediately below:

https://ramblingmusings666.substack.com/p/nightmare-alley-2021-39e27635b9b0

This spoiler free review is also contained within volume 3 of my 7 volumes of "essential film reviews collection" (£4.99 per volume) or each and every volume can be read for free should you have an Amazon Kindle "Unlimited" package:

Volume 3

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C4JTLRY1

7 Volume collection

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0C4HZSTTH?ref_=dbs_p_pwh_rwt_anx_a_lnk&storeType=ebooks

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