Nightmare Alley

Nightmare Alley
Starring Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Toni Collette
Directed by Guillero del Toro

A neo-noir thriller is any film of the subgenre that was released after 1959 (before then it was known simply as "noir"), with "neo" being a French word meaning "new" - so it's a new noir genre. It's generally hard to define, but typically a neo-noir thriller consists of unique tilted camera angles, the off-beat use of light and shadow, and unbalanced framing mixed with stories generally consisting of violence, crime, sex, moral ambiguity, revenge, paranoia, and alienation. "American Psycho," "Bad Times at the El Royale," "Brick," Cape Fear," "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels," and "The Usual Suspects" are some prime examples of neo-noir filmmaking, along with Oscar-winner Guillermo del Toro's recent outing, "Nightmare Alley," which showcases the effects of the neo-noir motif set against the backdrop of the seven deadly sins and how they can lead to a man's ultimate destruction.

Stan Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) is trying to escape his dark past, and joins the circus run by Chem Hoately (Willem Dafoe), where he befriends the carnie's "psychic" Zeena (Toni Collette) and her alcoholic husband Pete (Daivd Strahairn), who teaches Stan how to use cold reading to fool audiences into thinking that they're speaking to dead relatives. As Stan gains more knowledge in the craft of deception, he meets and falls in love with fellow carny Molly (Rooney Mara), and plans to run off with her in order to start their own two-man act.

Two years later, Stan and Molly are traveling to wealthy parties and performing for the rich and elite, tricking them out of money for false hope of talking to their loved ones in the afterlife. One night while performing he's cornered by Dr. Lilith Ritter (Cate Blanchett), who tries to expose Stan as a fraud, but he manages to use his wits to disarm her advances. He's then approached by influential Judge Kimball who hired Ritter to try to expose him, but since he bested her, he feels that Stan is the real deal. Dr. Ritter agrees to work with Stan, giving him private information about the Judge to fool him more, and as the two amass a wealth by conning wealthy fools, it's only a matter of time before their act is discovered and the big tent drops.

Del Toro is best known for directing creature features such as "Pan's Labyrinth" and the Oscar-winning "The Shape of Water," so hearing he was directing another film, I instinctively thought it was going to be another one of those creature films he's best known for. The trailer itself doesn't really offer any insight into the story, and going into it I was honestly totally blind to the story. While some people don't like that, I really enjoyed not knowing where the movie was going at any moment, and was truly shocked by the outcome. It's a perfect example of neo-noir thriller, a slow burn tale that makes you feel like it doesn't know the direction it's going in, but then all of a sudden it all comes to a head and you realize that even though Stan was conning marks in the film, you're the real mark - duped by a story that seemed haphazardly written but ultimately turning into a wholly cohesive narrative, and unlike other marks, you don't mind being fooled.

While the film seems to be on an off-beat trajectory (again, a staple of a neo-noir thriller), ultimately the story is right in front of you, a path Stan takes that parallels that of the seven deadly sins that are prominent in the background of the creepy funhouse Stan enters in order to find a missing geek (a carny drunkard whose show involves degrading acts like eating live chickens). Throughout the film, Stan embodies each of these sins:
Envy - Stan envies the abilities that Pete possesses, and seeks to gain the knowledge for himself
Gluttony - Stan becomes full of power and consumes more and more in a metaphorical sense
Greed - Stan continually milks money from the wealthy marks he chooses
Lust - Stan falls for Molly, yet he has a wandering eye
Pride - Stan feels that he's invincible, and nothing, and no one, can stop him
Sloth - While it doesn't seem like it, Stan relies heavily on other people to do his dirty work
Wrath - Stan seeks revenge for the wrongs that occurred to him in the past

Set against this tale is the stunning production design of Tamara Deverell, who bathes the screen in classic neo-noir green and gold tones that transports the viewers to the classic films of yore, along with confining, claustrophobic corridors and streets, mixed with immaculate office buildings that circumvent the first act consisting of dusty country roads and ramshackle street carnival designs. Mix that with Dan Lausten's cinematography, and you've got an unforgettable neo-noir thriller for the modern era, as he incorporates single-source lighting that gives the performers this unique, timeless aura.

While Stan is learning from Pete, he offers the young upstart some sage advice: "people are desperate to be seen. People are desperate to tell you who they are." A film is only as strong as its actors, and del Toro chose the best of the best to showcase this statement to the audience. This is by leaps and bounds Bradley Cooper's finest performance, as he performs his own tightrope act of balancing confidence with insecurity that lies deep under the surface, while playing off the perfect antihero design. Cate Blanchett is the perfect femme fatale who gives Stan an intellectual run for his money, and their pas de deux moments in her office serve as the most stressful and intriguing moments of the film, as both try to one-up the other, with one emerging the clear victor, and all the while she exudes this celestial beauty that transcends time and defies logic. Rooney Mara serves as the all-too-sweet love interest who doesn't have a truly bad bone in her body, who wants Stan to stop the darker side of his nature, and who serves as the long-suffering girlfriend in the process, all the while also emitting this nature of grace that's undeniable.

There's several films I can recall where the ending scene absolutely crushes it, where it leaves that special indelible mark in your soul long after the film ends, and one that you'll be talking about years later. "There Will Be Blood," "La La Land," "Planet of the Apes," and "Call Me By Your Name" are prime examples of this, and "Nightmare Alley" now joins that illustrious list. The final scene is downright unnerving in its simplicity, culminating in the entire story in one simple phrase and camera angle, with one last moment from one of the actors that is simply soul crushing. In that moment, everything comes into focus, and you finally get to hear the full story of the character and how their desire to be seen has come to prominence, but with great cost.

Incorporating everything that makes a neo-noir thriller so inventive and memorable, "Nightmare Alley" is a feast for the eyes and the mind, a slow-burn thriller that's packed to the gills with tremendous performances, vivid imagery, illustrious designs, and powerful storytelling with one of cinema's most iconic directors at the helm.

The Score: A+