Four years after his surprising Best Picture win at the Academy Awards for The Shape of Water, director Guillermo Del Toro returns to the big screen with a bit of a departure from his usual fare based in fantasy and horror, for a more straightforward remake of a film noir classic. Will the departure mark a new step in creativity for the inventive director?
Set in 1940s New York, Nightmare Alley finds us alongside Stanton “Stan” Carlisle (Bradley Cooper), a man drifting along through the world who happens upon a traveling carnival and convinces its clairvoyant Zeena (Toni Collette) and her mentalist husband Pete (David Strathairn) to let him tag along. Stan cozys up to a lonely young woman at the carnival named Molly (Rooney Mara) then picks up the trick of mentalism and uses it as his path to success, not only becoming an integral part of the carnival, but eventually using it to swindle the wealthy in high society. Soon, Stan sets his sights Ezra Grindle (Richard Jenkins),with the help of a mysterious psychiatrist Dr. Lilith Ritter (Cate Blanchett) who may not be what she seems.
In remaking this film noir classic, Del Toro nails the visual aesthetic of the beloved classic style making something that is both period accurate and imbued with modern flair. The details of 1940s style visuals included in Nightmare Alley extend down to the film’s transitions with iris shots featured throughout which combines with the film’s slow burning story to help the audience feel as if they’re watching a film directly from the era. Despite the film bursting with color and impeccable production and costume design from the World War II era America, Del Toro is still able to utilize film noir and classic Hollywood hard lighting over his shots to give it the shadowy feel of a noir film. The canvas created for Nightmare Alley is a visual treat that serves as an homage to films of yesteryear while mixing in modern design, providing the true visual definition of neo-noir.
That the film so grandly nailed the aesthetic of the noir makes its lackluster adaptation of the story elements that much more disappointing. Nightmare Alley seeks to make a statement on those who seek to mislead and con others so much so that they fall victim to the con themselves, but does so in a way that meanders and drags on without making any of its characters interesting or intriguing. The crucial part of any film noir is the femme fatale at its center and while Blanchett tries her best, her Lilith Ritter doesn’t pull viewers in at all with much intrigue as to her intentions or place within the story. She is part ingenue, part nefarious figure, but her presence isn’t ominous or mysterious enough to create any investment in her story, mirroring Nightmare Alley’s narrative overall. Cooper’s Stan is supposed to be a cautionary tale of the limits of greed and moral folly of taking advantage of people, but his character fails to evoke much emotion as either an antihero or protagonist you’re rooting against. Nightmare Alley’s ensemble is loaded with talented actors, but their skill cannot cover up a middling story or create any sort of spark to make the film feel less like a chore.
Del Toro’s films are usually wondrous mix of fantasy and allegory, using myth and monsters to explore the core of human interaction and emotion. While Nightmare Alley is an attempted departure toward a different kind of creative outlet for the talented director, you can feel the absence of his signature fantastical but grounded style and its resulting charm that mixes horror, childhood imagination, and substance. Nightmare Alley hits the right visual notes, but falls flat in story, feeling like a half great work that’s fully disappointing.
Image: Searchlight Pictures
