NIGHTMARE ALLEY. Guillermo del Toro’s latest film, “Nightmare Alley”, was released in theaters on Wednesday January 19, 2022. But what do the critics say?
[Mis à jour le 19 janvier 2022 à 9h41] Nightmare Alley promises change for regulars of Guillermo del Toro’s filmography. The Mexican director’s latest film, in cinema releases on January 19, 2022, is a thriller more rooted in a form of reality than his previous works. Here, it is the vices of human nature that are decried, in the middle of a monster fair in the 1940s. The filmmaker offers here a tribute to film noir which turns out to be successful, according to critical opinions. The press does not lack praise to describe Nightmare Alley: “Ambitious film” (The world), “sumptuous, sinuous and poisonous thriller” (Télé 7 Jours). Guillermo del Toro pays “a brilliant tribute to film noir” (Télé Loisir), “with elegance and talent” (Le Figaro), by summoning “colorful characters […] and extravagant decorations” (CNews).
The performances of Bradley Cooper as a showman setting up a scam, and of Cate Blanchett as a mysterious psychoanalyst, are hailed: “bradley cooper gets a golden ticket to the Oscars with his oversized score […] In front of him, Cate Blanchett, chillingly manipulative, holds him high” (The Parisian). Nightmare Alley does not, however, lack flaws, some of which are cited here and there by the critics, such as the “lack of the intimate necessity and the intimate palpitation of a living heart” (Le Monde) or “moments when the film tries too hard to theorize” (Les Inrockuptibles). While the feature film was a resounding failure at the American box office, we will find out in the coming weeks if French spectators have given it a chance… and if Nightmare Alley will participate in the race for the Oscars.
Synopsis – An ambitious young showman, able like no other to bait and manipulate people thanks to his talent for choosing his words, joins forces with a psychiatrist even more dangerous than him.