Nightmare Alley

directed by Guillermo del Toro - 6/10

Guillermo del Toro has mastered the art of creating films that exist within the milieu of a childhood fantasyland while employing dark and mature themes. The aesthetic of Nightmare Alley is reminiscent of contemporary children’s cinema like Hugo and Tim Burton’s recent works, but the content of the film is downright brutal. A reboot of Edmund Golding’s 1947 crime drama of the same name, this film is dominating the conversation of admirable technical and creative achievement this awards season.

Despite heaping praise for its artistry, Nightmare Alley is not the visual exemplar its fans claim it is. The over-saturated color grade and near-constant camera motion don’t prevent the cinematography from feeling lifeless. However, there are a few noticeably great shots here and there, and luckily the costumes and production design are exceptional, so the film isn’t entirely visually lacking. The production design is one of its most enticing features, but about halfway through, the film abruptly ditches the carnival aesthetic upon which its marketing campaign was built - only to tie it back in with a tired and cheesy denouement.

The apparent cliches in the coda belie the underdeveloped screenplay. The story feels strong on paper, but it meanders without momentum until the last thirty minutes of action. Once the story starts to pick up steam, you are reminded of how talented del Toro is as a writer and director, and you never want the third act to end. However, as far as the dialogue goes, it is difficult to parse the screenplay and determine which parts are purposeful exaggerations of 40s noir filmmaking and which parts are just poorly written.

The acting, however, isn’t half bad - Cate Blanchett gives the only performance that packs a punch, but Bradley Cooper, Toni Collette, and Willem Dafoe all provide decent contributions to the cast.

Nightmare Alley attempts to be a modernized noir but instead feels like a film that hasn’t fully committed to being a contemporary crime movie or a tribute to old-school filmmaking. It has plenty of redeeming qualities, and individual enjoyment will certainly fluctuate, but Nightmare Alley simply feels too inoffensively average to justify its runtime, budget, A-list cast, and impeccable mise-en-scene.

Nightmare Alley was released on December 17, 2021, and is currently streaming on HBO Max and Hulu.