Over the past thirty years, Guillermo del Toro has directed some of the most haunting movies: "Cronos", "Mimic", "The Devil's Backbone", "Pan's Labyrinth" and "The Shape of Water". He now adds "Nightmare Alley", a disturbing look at a man's overconfidence.
Bradley Cooper plays a man who joins a traveling carnival but begins letting his belief in his own abilities get the better of him, especially after he starts associating with a morally ambiguous psychologist. Cate Blanchett's performance as the psychologist is what makes the movie, in my opinion. That and the production design create one of the most mind-blowing things that you'll ever see; it certainly earned its Academy Award nomination for production design.
I don't know if I would call this the year's best movie, but it's one of the most impressive. Along with Cooper and Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, David Strathairn, Mary Steenburgen, Ron Perlman, Richard Jenkins and a host of other people put on splendid performances. You should definitely check this movie out.
