Read Mixed User Reviews for Nightmare Alley (2021)

4

KlebartJan 3, 2022

The aspect of a period piece loses its luster after a half hour. It's not a movie with a lot of purpose or enjoyment to it. The movie itself is full of itself to be honest. This isn't a movie anyone needs to see.

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

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6

BeardedYodaDec 17, 2021

Nightmare Alley is a beautiful looking, well shot, well acted, and detailed film with a lot of interesting concepts. But the plot of the film just was not up to par. Nightmare Alley's plot felt very disjointed, at times feeling like itsNightmare Alley is a beautiful looking, well shot, well acted, and detailed film with a lot of interesting concepts. But the plot of the film just was not up to par. Nightmare Alley's plot felt very disjointed, at times feeling like its overall narrative was going far to fast for its own good. I found this odd, as the movie also felt far too slow during its second half. All of this is a tad frustrating, as I do very much like del Toro's other work and can see the effort in this film.… Expand

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5

MattyIce34Dec 20, 2021

As with any GDT film, it looks great, but why is this thing 2.5 hours long? It doesn't have the interesting characters or developed plot to justify it.

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4

everettJan 11, 2022

I can't understand the praise, or why this movie was made, and especially why such fine actors signed on. Their roles are caricatures, and most of them played them as such. Others have noted that it's too long; I stuck it out, but unless youI can't understand the praise, or why this movie was made, and especially why such fine actors signed on. Their roles are caricatures, and most of them played them as such. Others have noted that it's too long; I stuck it out, but unless you love this director (clearly some people see something there that I don't), do something better with two and a half hours of your life.… Expand

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5

BigEggsKitchenDec 19, 2021

Overly long, too little payoff. Directing, costuming and acting are all top notch but it can’t save it

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5

Brent_MarchantDec 26, 2021

Though stylish to a fault, director Guillermo del Toro's cinema noir tale about a Depression Era carny worker who hones his mentalist craft on the humbug circuit and then uses it to fleece gullible, wealthy members of high society has theThough stylish to a fault, director Guillermo del Toro's cinema noir tale about a Depression Era carny worker who hones his mentalist craft on the humbug circuit and then uses it to fleece gullible, wealthy members of high society has the makings of what should be a captivating watch. Note that I said should be. Unfortunately, this vastly, vastly overlong offering waters down its suspense to the point where the end can't come fast enough. A bloated script and insufficient editing heavily weigh down this misfire, which, despite its length, ironically somehow manages to come up short in the back story department. To its credit, "Nightmare Alley" is one of the most beautiful films of 2021 with its lavish production design, gorgeous cinematography and fine technical attributes. It also features a superb ensemble, with fine performances across the board, particularly those of Cate Blanchett, Willem Dafoe , David Strathairn and Richard Jenkins. But even those considerable strengths are not enough to save this protracted snooze, one that truly would have benefitted from a thorough going-over in the script and editing areas to mercifully chop out a plethora of extraneous, irrelevant material. Indeed, putting one's audience to sleep when they should be on the edge of their seats is no way to handle a film in this genre, an approach that, sadly, is deadlier than anything happening on screen.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

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6

billmarkmSep 24, 2022

Impeccable production design, riveting performances, and a cast of unlikeable characters. Like most things that are good for me, I’ll appreciate it more later on.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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6

MetacriticOnurFeb 2, 2022

admirable
[ ad-mer-uh-buhl ]

adjective
worthy of admiration; inspiring approval, reverence, or affection.

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6

dharmaMar 31, 2022

I was expecting another virtuoso from Del Toro, yet came out disappointed. Nightmare Alley though is him trying to do a film noir, impeccably produced and well acted as always. But it is paced exactly like a 40s film of that era. This alongI was expecting another virtuoso from Del Toro, yet came out disappointed. Nightmare Alley though is him trying to do a film noir, impeccably produced and well acted as always. But it is paced exactly like a 40s film of that era. This along with West Side Story is the studio pandering to their greatest talents to the max. Face it, who wants to watch this film in this time and age. The end result: a flop from the usually dependable director.… Expand

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5

breakfastmonkeyFeb 17, 2022

I'm writing this review with 30 min left in the movie. That's how disinterested I've become. Still... its pretty.

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5

saucyninja007Feb 6, 2022

Exceptional directing, acting, and production design is not enough to save "Nightmare Alley" from its massive flaws - poor pacing, shallow characterization, and a narrative that is overly episodic and predictable. Guillermo Del Toro isExceptional directing, acting, and production design is not enough to save "Nightmare Alley" from its massive flaws - poor pacing, shallow characterization, and a narrative that is overly episodic and predictable. Guillermo Del Toro is obviously a talented director who understands how to craft a cinematic experience and get believable performances out of his actors (Bradley Cooper delivers perhaps his best performance ever in "Nightmare Alley"). Del Toro also nails the atmosphere in "Alley" - the carnival scenes feel grimy and repulsive.

But that is where my praise for "Alley" ends. The film is egregiously long - it has no business being longer than 90 minutes considering its plot. Even worse, it squanders its time: 150 minutes later and the audience is left with barely any information about its characters. This leads me to the biggest problem with "Nightmare Alley": the central character is woefully underwritten and uninteresting. The audience is given no reason to care about his fate. He is supposed to be suave and charming but this intention never resonates. He has one motivation throughout the whole story and it is a superficial one at that. He has no redeeming characteristics (yes, even an antihero needs to have one of these). He does not change in any meaningful way. So when the film was finally finished slogging towards its telegraphed, unsurprising conclusion, I was left with the biggest "so what?" feeling in recent memory.… Expand

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4

KatalkysteFeb 3, 2022

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Is this a bad movie? -No
Is this a Bad Guillermo del Toro Movie - Absolutely YES.

Its a Thriller without any fantasy aspect or anything that made "Pans Labyrinth" or "Shape of Water" so phantastic.

Nightmare Alley is a rather dragged Movie about a Guy that goes from a noman to small actor to small con man who finally wants to go big until it all blows up in his face.. Problem is: you know this all along the way.. there is basically nothing surprising happening in this movie, everything is "announced", but the viewer has to deduct a LOT of the background, the motives and motivations, since its neither shown nor narrated. They tried to make the main protagonist shrouded in mysteri and ended up creating a rather bland plank of wood. They missed so many opportunties to play with scenery, especially in those circus settings they could have changed the color scheme from blue/red from the audience view to the over all scheme of the movie in Green/yellow.

You never find out the motivation of the main character to kill his father, nor to go to the circus, nor why he choses to do anything in the course of the movie.. all in all, nice but far from great, alot seems to be too far fetched.… Expand

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5

macro_zorkiFeb 7, 2022

Spoilerfree: the movie is quite good. In fact so good that it is unpleasant to watch at times. The main protagonist and his choices are for me painful to watch therefore. It reminds me ob "Requiem for a dream". So in general a good movie, butSpoilerfree: the movie is quite good. In fact so good that it is unpleasant to watch at times. The main protagonist and his choices are for me painful to watch therefore. It reminds me ob "Requiem for a dream". So in general a good movie, but i wouldnt watch it again, because it is painful.… Expand

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5

Mauro_LanariApr 19, 2022

(Mauro Lanari)
Referrals to the '32 Tod Browning or to Herzog's very first works are scarce. More central is the reference to the authors who have related the monstrous human condition to a spiritual condemnation: the Lynch of "The Elephant(Mauro Lanari)
Referrals to the '32 Tod Browning or to Herzog's very first works are scarce. More central is the reference to the authors who have related the monstrous human condition to a spiritual condemnation: the Lynch of "The Elephant Man" (1980) and the Fincher of "Se7en" (1995), from the teratological aborted fetuses, here the biblical Enoch, caused by original sin, to the deadly sins depicted here between the inscriptions "House of Damnation" and "Take a look at yourself, sinner". Guillermo del Toro returns to collaborate with Ron Perlman but outside the cinecomic, the demonic in 2004's "Hellboy" (the monk Rasputin) takes off the clothes of the graphic novel and assumes those of the man-beast, the childhood traumas of "Pan's Labyrinth" (2006) are no longer fairytale or fantasy, the allusions to Francoist become blatant quotes from Hitler. The director, convinced of completing a path of maturity, in the continuation of the movie abandons his famous stylistic code and embraces realism, repudiates chorality and focuses on the nefarious prophecy of the protagonist with his hubris. Even Guillermo has surrendered to nihilism.… Expand

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4

MarinoMeleApr 7, 2022

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. 4.5/10
This movie looks GOOD and the actors are truly working some magic here, I was mesmerized by all of the ambiance here. Only a couple of hiccups pacing-wise, but that's due to how rich of events this movie is.
But I'm sorry, the ending - despite being obvious - was a steamy piece of CRAP.
Ending this mostly flat movie with some authorial autoerotism. And this is EXACTLY why people like it.
[SPOILERS AHEAD]
This protagonist - stubborn, ambitious, bright, smart, and talented... Accepts being filled with drugs so much to lose all of his humanity becoming a "beast-man". When he already saw what disgraceful end those poor men are bound to suffer?
This kind of change of heart happens solely because the script demands it. Such a change would've needed much more crafting.
As it is it's so off-character, it's just Del Toro giving himself an ego-handjob.
Character-wise, it would've made much more sense for the protagonist to just pretend on drinking the drug. Implying he's still as it was years ago, and foreshadowing he wants to use yet another circus as a career springboard.
I can see parallelism with "Les Miserables" here, but let's leave this 'class-predestination theme to the self-entitled-wisdom of nobles from the '800s.
Nowadays, we can call this narrative by name: narrative crap.… Expand

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6

iCampoRamilFeb 17, 2022

Mucho mejor la primera parte que hacia al final. Actoralmente es una gozada, igual que el reparto. La historia mola, te pica la curiosidad pero se vuelve medio confusa y creo que no acaba de cuajar del todo. Técnicamente mola un montón eseMucho mejor la primera parte que hacia al final. Actoralmente es una gozada, igual que el reparto. La historia mola, te pica la curiosidad pero se vuelve medio confusa y creo que no acaba de cuajar del todo. Técnicamente mola un montón ese neo-noir que consigue Guillermo del Toro, es muy de él, tiene su esencia horripilante, pero da la sensación de que es una película menor, a pesar de ese reparto.

· Cosas buenas: el neo-noir funciona a la perfección, es la pura esencia de la película. Las actuaciones y el reparto más de lo mismo, y esa primera parte sí que llega a interesar y mantenerte en vilo.
· Cosas malas: se desequilibra mucho de cara al tercer tercio, se puede hacer algo larga porque empieza a mezclar géneros que ya no causan tanto interés como al principio.
· Conclusión: lo dicho, da la sensación que no ha acabado de cuajar, de que es una película menor de del Toro, acabas con una sensación rara de no saber si te ha gustado o no.… Expand

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6

syhuffFeb 27, 2022

Love the atmosphere, the art direction, the performances. I wish they focussed the script entirely on the circus, or worked harder to keep the narrative connected to the dream/nightmare quality of the circus and "mentalist" circuit. Goes onLove the atmosphere, the art direction, the performances. I wish they focussed the script entirely on the circus, or worked harder to keep the narrative connected to the dream/nightmare quality of the circus and "mentalist" circuit. Goes on too long for not enough payoff.… Expand

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5

RickDanger78Feb 13, 2022

Del Toro’s remake of this classic is a fool’s errand; how do you update a perfect masterpiece? More importantly, why? Is there a more modern or more complex idea you want to express? Are there cinematic techniques that can add depth? Sadly,Del Toro’s remake of this classic is a fool’s errand; how do you update a perfect masterpiece? More importantly, why? Is there a more modern or more complex idea you want to express? Are there cinematic techniques that can add depth? Sadly, the answer to all these questions is no; there’s no compelling reason to recreate this, and Del Toro’s attempt is rote, unconvincing, and ultimately redundant to the original. Sure, it looks great, and there are some strong performances, especially Jenkins and Blanchett, but the script is weak and wordy. The story, so convincing and passionate in its original context, is here a pantomime of a period piece. The culminating twist was a stretch even in the original, and it’s forced and ultimately silly here, despite Blanchett’s seductive best efforts. Most damaging is that Cooper just can’t carry the Tyrone Power role, unable to portray the incremental corruption of an earnest hustler into a debased monster. When Powers delivers his famous final line, it perfectly sums up everything that went before. When Cooper delivers it, it looks like an acting class exercise, and fails to deliver the devastating kick required. In the portrayal of the rise and progressive fall of a con, Powers was born for it. Cooper, not so much. Overlong and underwrought, this is a disappointing time sink with nothing new to say and no innovative way to say it.… Expand

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6

DeviltherobotDec 29, 2021

The trailer is very well done, which is why I feel bamboozled by this movie. There are pacing issues and it doesn't get good until have way through. I think this is a 5.5/10, but since this is a cool concept (yea it is a remake, but of aThe trailer is very well done, which is why I feel bamboozled by this movie. There are pacing issues and it doesn't get good until have way through. I think this is a 5.5/10, but since this is a cool concept (yea it is a remake, but of a 1940s film, not the same as current soul less films) I will give it a 6/10.… Expand

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