Nightmare Alley (2021)

R
2h 30m

Nightmare Alley is a 2021 American neo-noir psychological thriller film[4][5] directed by Guillermo del Toro from a screenplay by del Toro and Kim Morgan, based on the 1946 novel of the same name by William Lindsay Gresham. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, Mary Steenburgen, and David Strathairn. It is the second feature film adaptation of Gresham’s novel, following the 1947 version. The film focuses on Stan Carlisle (Cooper), an ambitious carny who hooks up with corrupt psychiatrist Dr. Lilith Ritter (Blanchett), who proves to be as dangerous as he is.

Del Toro serves as a producer on the film, alongside J. Miles Dale and Cooper. Del Toro first announced development of the project in December 2017, his first film since The Shape of Water (2017). Frequent collaborator Dan Laustsen serves as the film’s cinematographer, while Nathan Johnson replaces Alexandre Desplat as the film’s composer. Principal photography began in January 2020 in Toronto, Ontario, but was shut down in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Production resumed in September 2020 and concluded that December.