Review of Nightmare Alley (2021) by Jluis_001 — 17 Dec 2021

A problem that often happens to good directors is when they reach a point where their style, despite being meticulous, starts to become more important than the narrative work.

Guillermo del Toro is a director who puts a lot of detail into the production of his films. He is a director known worldwide for his visual style and excellent attention to detail.

And his stories, while not perfect, are usually quite engaging.

After winning the Oscar for best director in 2017, it goes without saying that the expectations for his next work were enormous. However, I don't think he managed to live up to these this time.

Nightmare Alley is far from a disappointment. I really believe it's a good movie, but I also personally think that Del Toro didn't know how to make the most of the noir genre in his script.

Aesthetically there is nothing to reproach, this film breathes a life of its own as far as that is concerned, but I think Del Toro couldn't give it the incisive and criminal soul that a story like this needed.

Overall it has good performances, although the real standouts are Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett.

I can't say if it surpasses the '47 film, because I haven't seen it, but even with the things I didn't like, mainly about its story, it's a movie that doesn't deserve to disappear as it surely will because of the more than stupid decision of its studio to release it at the same time as the new Spider-Man movie, but if you have the time to give it a chance, do it.