I assumed from the trailer this was going to be some kind of scary movie, and perhaps a film that would be nominated in the upcoming Awards Season, whatever it was I couldn't wait to see it, produced and directed by Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth, The Shape of Water). Basically, in 1939, somewhere in the Midwest, Stanton "Stan" Carlisle (Bradley Cooper, also producing) puts a wrapped dead body in a hole in the floor and burns down the house. He takes a job as a carny with a travelling circus. The carnival's geek (Paul Anderson) (a strange looking man that chases and eats live chickens, part of the freak show) becomes ill, and Stan is enlisted by owner Clem Hoatley (Willem Dafoe) by get rid of the geek. Clem explains that the geeks are men with troubled pasts, usually an alcoholic or drug addict, and he lures one with the promise of a temporary job and gives them opium-laced alcohol. He uses their dependence to abuse them physically and mentally until they sink into madness and depravity, thus creating a freak show geek. Clem then shows Stan the storage of moonshine he brews to control the carnies, warning him not to mistake it for the wood alcohol he stores nearby. Stan works with the clairvoyant act "Madame Zeena" (Toni Collette) and her alcoholic husband, Pete (David Strathairn), who use cold reading (high probability guesses and picking up on signals) and a coded language system to make it seem that she has extraordinary mental powers. Pete begins teaching these skills to Stan, but he and Zeena warn him not to use them to continue leading patrons on when it comes to the dead. They always inform customers afterward that the show is a deception, otherwise people get hurt. Meanwhile, Stan becomes attracted to fellow performer Mary Elizabeth "Molly" Cahill (Rooney Mara), who has a talent for absorbing and conducting electrocution, and he helps her to create an electric chair act. One night, Stan, possibly accidentally, gives Pete a bottle later identified as wood alcohol, and the old man dies from poisoning. In the aftermath, Stan swears his love to Molly, and they leave the carnival behind to become a two-person act. Two years later, Stan has established himself as "The Great Stanton," a psychic act for wealthy patrons in New York, with Molly as his assistant, using Zeena and Pete's techniques. During a performance, their act is interrupted by psychologist Dr. Lilith Ritter (Cate Blanchett), who attempts to expose them as frauds, but Stan gets the better of her, keeping their act safe while publicly humiliating her. The wealthy Judge Kimball (Peter MacNeill) approaches Stan, revealing he hired Ritter to test Stan. He is convinced of Stan's abilities and offers to pay him handsomely to help him and his wife (Mary Steenburgen) communicate with their dead son. Molly objects to this, but Stan agrees. Ritter invites Stan to her office; she knows he is a con man but is nevertheless intrigued by his manipulative skill. She has had many recorded sessions with clients, accumulating sensitive information from New York's social elite. Stan and Ritter are attracted to each other and begin an affair, and conspire together to manipulate Kimball, with Ritter sharing private information to make the scam more convincing. She also begins therapy sessions with Stan, who reveals his guilt over Pete's death, and that he killed his own alcoholic father, he hated him and burned his body before joining the circus. Kimball introduces Stan to Ezra Grindle (Richard Jenkins), a ruthless auto tycoon with a sceptical interest in the occult. Grindle reveals his lover Dory died in a forced abortion and wants to communicate with her. Ritter warns Stan that Grindle is dangerous, but he begins to scam him, and the pressure causes Stan to start drinking. Ritter feeds information to Stan to use against Grindle as revenge for him previously attacking her. Molly becomes increasingly uncomfortable, and leaves Stan after learning about his affair with Ritter. He begs her to stay, but she refuses, only agreeing to help him one last time. Meanwhile, Judge Kimball's wife is mentally unstable, due to Stan's promising them a reunion with their dead son, and in madness she shoots her husband dead, and commits suicide. One night, Molly poses as the spirit of Dory for Stan's ultimate act, to fool Grindle who will see her from afar. However, he loses control of Grindle, who reveals himself to be a violent abuser of many women due to his guilt for Dory. Grindle sees Molly from afar but runs to and embraces her before she can exit. Unknown to Stan, Grindle's henchman, Anderson (Holt McCallany), hears on the radio of the murder-suicide of Judge Kimball and his wife, and goes to check on Stan and Grindle. Grindle is enraged upon realising that "Dory" is a fake and promises to destroy Stan. In response, Stan beats Grindle to death, then kills Anderson during their escape. As he begins to trash their car to create the impression that it was stolen, Molly leaves Stan for good. Stan goes to Ritter for help but discovers she has been scamming him all along, she reveals that wanted revenge for him humiliating her during their first encounter. Ritter calls the police and threatens to use their private recording sessions as evidence that he is mentally disturbed if he tries to implicate her. Ritter shoots Stan in the ear, and he tries to strangle Ritter, but the police arrive, and he flees. Wanted, injured, and with nowhere else to go, Stan hides in a train and wanders around for years as an alcoholic hobo. At his limit, Stan finds another carnival and tries to get a job as a mentalist but is turned away by the owner (Tim Blake Nelson). Seeing him down his luck, the owner offers him a drink and a "temporary" job as the new geek at the last minute. Stan accepts the offer while both laughing and sobbing. Also starring Ron Perlman as Bruno, Mark Povinelli as The Major, Lara Jean Chorostecki as Louise Hoatley, Jim Beaver as Sheriff Jedediah Judd, Clifton Collins Jr. As Funhouse Jack, David Hewlett as Dr. Elrood, Sarah Mennell as Abigail, Troy James as The Snake Man, and Matthew MacCallum as Human Skeleton. Cooper goes against his usual charismatic character type and engaging as a con artist, Blanchett is interesting as the femme fatale, and there is good support from Collette, Dafoe, and Jenkins. Although this isn't a horror film, del Toro uses his background in the genre to elevate the nasty moments, but more than anything, this is a love letter to the classic noir movies. It is a film of two halves, the first half being in the circus, and the second in the city, it is a fascinating character study with many dark moments, the period detail and costume design is terrific, the score by Nathan Johnson is good, and the special effects are well done, it may be a little long, but all in all it is an intriguing and watchable psychological thriller. It was nominated the Oscars for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, and Best Cinematography, and it was nominated the BAFTAs for Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, and Best Production Design. Very good!
Review of Nightmare Alley
