Cate Blanchett as Lilith Ritter in Nightmare Alley against a trippy background
The Big Picture Though grimy scales or monstrous wings do not pervade Nightmare Alley, Guillermo del Torro still instills a hallucinatory and fantastical facade in this underrated neo-noir masterpiece. Walking among the unruly society of carnies that exclusively deals in illusions, the film itself taps into a bitter truth of the human condition, exposing an arrogance that is inherent in everyone.
Cooper skillfully commands the screen whenever he performs a spook show as Stanton, adopting a soothing voice and a delicate demeanor that effectively manipulates the "mark" and subsequently bolsters his arrogance. Nightmare Alley becomes an archaic tale of rags-to-riches-to-rags, where overachieving becomes the protagonist's downfall as he flirts with sin.
However, Molly isn't necessarily reduced to an archetype of virtue like one would expect from a female character. In fact, she ends up also being a victim to her own ego, continuously holding out for Stanton and believing she could reel him in if he got too carried away. Enveloped by her fantasies of true love, she is unable to reconcile his true nature and obsession with his ambition to the endearing husband she had envisioned after running away with him.
'Nightmare Alley' Exposes the Ego of the Everyday Person Close But Nightmare Alley isn't simply a character study on the sin of pride. This existential thread of "no one is special" extends beyond the few main characters and trickles down to the public.
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