Nightmare Alley (2021) – Guillermo del Toro’s Darkest Noir Yet

Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley (2021) set out to dazzle audiences with a lush film-noir vision of ambition, deceit, and carnival grit, so why did it vanish almost as quickly as it arrived? Truman Capps and Landen Celano climb into the Machine to find out how a star-studded prestige remake could be both immaculate and strangely unmemorable.

A remake of the 1947 noir classic, Nightmare Alley follows con-man Stanton Carlisle as he rises from sideshow hustler to high-society psychic, weaving a fatal web of greed and lies. Directed by Guillermo del Toro and starring Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, and Ron Perlman, the film premiered in 2021 as a lavish passion project from Searchlight Pictures. Despite critical respect and Oscar nominations, it under-performed at the box office, a forgotten prestige film that looks like a masterpiece.

 

WHAT YOU’LL HEAR

• The hosts trace Nightmare Alley’s journey from noir novel to 1947 classic to Guillermo del Toro’s 2021 remake

• Discussion of the film’s pacing, structure, and how it compares to the original

• Reflections on Bradley Cooper’s performance and the morality of Stanton Carlisle’s rise and fall

• Thoughts on del Toro’s production design, carnival setting, and how his signature visual style shapes tone

• A debate about whether the film’s emotional distance and grim ending keep audiences from connecting with it

 

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Tags: Nightmare Alley, 2021, Guillermo del Toro, Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Film Noir, Thriller, Forgotten Movies