directed by: Guillermo del Toro, year: 2021
actors: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Willem Dafoe

Guillermo del Toro's Nightmare Alley tracks Stanton Carlisle, a driven con man who joins a 1940s carnival and learns to bend people to his will with a new sense of power. As his act grows, he reaches beyond trickery into dangerous alliances, obsessive psychiatrists, and deadly ambitions. The film blends noir mystery, gothic horror, and psychological suspense in a lush, period-perfect world where every charm conceals another layer of danger. Cooper delivers a magnetic, morally compromised lead, Blanchett's chilling psychiatrist sharpens the cat-and-mouse dynamics, and Mara and Dafoe provide counterpoints that test Carlisle's schemes.

High Stakes, Crime Drama, Neo Noir, Psychological Thriller