Taking a walk down Nightmare Alley

The Shape of Water was one of the first films I watched with my classmates when I moved to London 4 years ago (!) It was a cold and grey January not unlike today and we watched it over at the Cineworld at the o2 arena. We sat on the back row, and we had a blast. I wonder if my classmates remember it, or has it been lost to memory. A month or two go by and I’m sitting in my grubby first year student accommodation kitchen, my flatmate has hooked up his flat screen to his laptop and we had a couple of friends over to watch the Academy Awards. We watched Guillermo Del Toro stack up the awards and awwww’d at his touching acceptance speeches.

Del Toro is a master at his craft, which is unsurprising considering his background in special effects makeup and fascination with practical effects. Visually, his films never disappoint. I could watch them on mute and still be fully engaged. Watch any of Del Toros interviews on YouTube and you can feel his love of the craft radiating off the screen.

His new film Nightmare Alley was intriguing from the jump, as you may have read in my previous review for Licorice Pizza there are certain directors who could literally shoot themselves eating a burger and I would watch it (literally). Anyways, A book to screen adaptation of the 1946 novel that sidesteps the original 1947 adaption? Interesting…You know I cannot stand a remake, but for Del Toro I’ll allow it. Plus, films set at carnivals hit such a sweet spot for me. Between the Cirque du Freak book series and the I Write Sins not Tragedies music video I’d say that freak show movies are certainly a contender for my favourite microgenre of films.

To the people who say this film is poorly paced- how does it feel to be wrong? The film defiantly feels true to the structure of the book. The chapters are clearly separated but don’t feel different or out of place with the rest of the film. The progression of the narrative and the character arcs feel natural and authentic. The costumes where sensational, the hair and makeup where fabulous but the real star of the show was the set design. The! Set! Design!

Cate Blanchett just belongs in this era honestly; I need her to be cast in every other period piece as a femme fatal. Rooney Mara was lovely, I loved watching her go from naïve and gullible to finally having some guts and to stand up for herself. And what to say of Toni Collette that hasn’t already been said, legend icon and star. Bradley Cooper was also good because we were rooting for him, and then rooting against him. We love a flip flopper. I also have found great joy in being able to walk into a cinema and be able to watch two films with Willem Dafoe, love that guy and I love this for him.

All in all, this movie made me want to read the book, see a circus and vote for Nightmare Alley for best set decoration at all major events.