Synopsis
An ambitious carnival man with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words hooks up with a female psychologist who is even more dangerous than he is.
Votre Filmothèque
Cast
- Bradley CooperStanton Carlisle
- Cate BlanchettDr. Lilith Ritter
- Toni ColletteZeena the Seer
- Willem DafoeClem Hoatley
- Richard JenkinsEzra Grindle
- Rooney MaraMolly Cahill
- Ron PerlmanBruno
- Mary SteenburgenMrs. Kimball
- David StrathairnPete
- Mark PovinelliThe Major
Recommandations
- 90
Variety
A gorgeous, fantastically sinister moral fable about the cruel predictability of human nature and the way entire systems — from carnies and con men to shrinks and Sunday preachers — are engineered to exploit it. - 88
Movie Nation
Stunningly-detailed, with an A-list cast up and down the line, it’s a gorgeous and gloomy dip into the dark side, immersive and bleak from start to finish. - 80
The Hollywood Reporter
With a semi-playful nod to the 1945 film Detour and more than a few rain-drenched streets, Nightmare Alley pays tribute to noir. But it’s also its own dark snow globe, luminous and finely faceted, and one of del Toro’s most fluent features. - 80
Slashfilm
A wickedly enjoyable tale of freak shows, dark and stormy nights, innocent dames, morally bankrupt schemers, and a femme fatale to die for. - 75
IndieWire
This sordid excavation into the hollowness of a human soul is a strange fit for a director who’s spent his career searching for magic in the darkest margins of our world, but del Toro’s natural empathy for even the most damnable creatures he finds there sparks new life into “Nightmare Alley” as it narrows towards its inevitable dead end. - 75
Consequence
It may not have the sharp edges of a classic ’40s noir, but del Toro’s softer touch invites us in like one of Stan’s credulous marks. - 75
Entertainment Weekly
Nightmare Alley is both a beautiful-looking film and an oddly forgettable one, maybe because borrowed material is no match for the ingenious creations of del Toro's own mind. - 60
Screen Daily
The period details are impeccable, the look and feel are seductive, but the muddled script lacks the killer instinct of its central figures.
