Nightmare Alley

For his 11th film director Guillermo Del Toro has left the supernatural behind. He's in film noir territory now adapting the novel of the same name from 1946. There's no giant human-like cockroaches here, no vampires who feed on other vampires by way of a sucker found under their tongue and definitely no ghosts who attack humans so violently that brains pour out of their fractured skulls. That said you'll still be shuddering as you leave Nightmare Alley. 

Animal lovers may meltdown but an early scene where Stan Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) watches a geek biting the head off a chicken in a circus freak show is thankfully, but very effectively, faked. He's walked away from his former life and has taken a job as a carny in the very same circus. He's always on the make, always looking out for people who's feelings he can worm his way into and soon enough two women are under his spell, one a young woman called Molly (Rooney Mara) who he has future plans for and another, a so called clairvoyant called Madame Zeena (Toni Collette). After he's learned her "psychic" bag of tricks he leaves the circus to start a new life with Molly and putting Zeena's knowledge to good use he soon becomes famous amongst the New York elite. Then one night he meets Dr. Lilith Ritter (Cate Blanchett) at one of his shows and a new plan starts to form in that head of his.

150 minutes. A ridiculous running time. It could have been worse though, rumour is GDT's preferred cut ran to 200 minutes. It's odd because some of it runs on for way too long but other parts of the film, primarily the first hour, set in the circus, would benefit from the extra minutes that make the second half of the film feel saggy. The world of the circus is beautifully drawn, full of awe struck wonder built on suffering and sadness, all grand guignol ghoulishness and brought to life by a group of actors (Willem Dafoe, David Straithairn and of course Ron Perlman is there, GDT's longtime muse) who in any other film would fill out a cast wonderfully, but here they sadly vanish halfway through. The relationship between Stan and Lilith becomes the film's primary focus and in places it slows the film to a crawl. The story starts feeling muddled but the as the third act comes into focus the story does gather up a nice head of steam that leads to that ending mentioned earlier and the full realisation (if you haven't seen the 1947 film adaption) that this is a full on morality tale in noir clothing. The story's dark cynicism and horrifying worldview get hammered home in a moment that will make you shudder with all it's hideous implications.

Bradley Cooper sells that final shot and every shot he's in up to that point, his Stan a multilayered creation, he's warm, he's charming, he's a master manipulator, he's vicious when needs be but he's also haunted by it, by his past, especially his very last act before he left home to join the circus. We don't find out why he did it but past brutality is hinted at and revenge is a dish literally best served cold, or freezing in this case. He's easily as good as Tyrone Power was in the original 1947 version, his movie star looks used to full effect to charm and corrupt all around him. Toni Collette and Cate Blanchett stand their ground against him, Collette especially in a part you'd happily watch way more of but Rooney Mara disappears into the scenery beside him, playing a part you'll struggle to remember anything about.

Nightmare Alley is in cinemas now. In usual Del Toro fashion it's dark, it's creepy and it's fantastic looking. It's also far too long and a bit messy but a killer lead turn from Bradley Cooper will keep you watching.