As the Academy Award season ramps up in the coming weeks, I wanted to review a film that is up for Best Picture this year. That film is Nightmare Alley. It’s a little atypical for an Academy Award best picture nominee these days. Although, it’s an interesting lineup this year in general for nominations. 

This film-noir is a take on the novel of the same name, written by Lindsay Gresham in 1946. However, it's not entirely a crowd-pleaser or a true art-house style best picture nominee. It’s a bit of a mix, from acclaimed and stylish filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, known for The Shape of Water and Pan’s Labyrinth. 

What’s it About?

Set in 1939, the film introduces us to natural-born conman and grifter, Stanton Carlisle, played by Bradley Cooper. He seems to be our protagonist, but there's something amiss about him.

We see Carlisle burning down his family home in the first scene, a mysterious body amidst the flames. Carlisle finds his way to a traveling carnival, where he first signs on as a day laborer, but quickly ingratiates himself with the carnival management and later one of its attractions (Zeena the Seer), whose act is based on a sophisticated code created by her alcoholic husband which is used to put one over on the unsuspecting crowd. 

Carlisle very quickly catches on to the potential of the scheme and he begins helping with the act. But, he has visions of a much bigger and brighter future, so he takes what he learns from the carnival and heads off to pull a much more elaborate con on higher society than the more common (aka poor) folks who visit the carnival.

This brings Carlisle and his new love, Molly (who left the carnival with him) to the big city where they end up meeting psychoanalyst Dr. Lilith Ritter at one of their performances before the upper crust of society. Carlisle hatches a scheme with Ritter to use the information she has on her rich patients during his act to con them out of more than the admission fee. 

But, as with any good film about a con, things do not go as planned. Let’s just say that things get out of hand, lines are crossed, and allies turn on each other. It all ends in a particularly ironic and possibly poetic way for Carlisle, but I won’t share that. You’ll have to watch it to get the entire payoff. 

Who’s in it?

Nightmare Alley boasts an all-star cast, without a doubt. It is headlined by Bradley Cooper as the protagonist (hard to call him either a hero or even an anti-hero entirely) Stanton Carlisle and Cate Blanchett as Dr. Lilith Ritter. But, it also includes Toni Collette as Zeena the Seer, Willem Dafoe as Clem Hoatley, Rooney Mara as Molly Cahill, and Richard Jenkins, Mary Steenburgen, Ron Perlman, and David Strathairn in key supporting roles. That’s a number of Academy Award winners and nominees. 

Watch it or Not?

The film is extremely well made. The directing and cinematography are striking. The acting, especially from Cooper and Blanchett, is also excellent. But, all that aside, whether it should be on your watch list or not largely rides on whether film-noir is your bag.

The movie isn’t particularly fast-paced, sometimes luxuriating in the moment and some of those moments are far from pleasant. That said, it’s well-deserving of the Oscar nomination.