Nightmare Alley (2021 film)

Nightmare Alley
A sepia tinted poster, showing a man, two women, and third woman below. The background prominently lists the 7 deadly sins. Below the billing block is a car on a dark snowy street.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGuillermo del Toro
Screenplay by
  • Guillermo del Toro
  • Kim Morgan
Based onNightmare Alley
by William Lindsay Gresham
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyDan Laustsen
Edited byCam McLauchlin
Music byNathan Johnson
Production
companies
Distributed bySearchlight Pictures
Release dates
Running time
150 minutes
Countries
  • United States
  • Mexico[1]
  • Canada[2]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$60 million[3]
Box office$39.6 million[4][5]

Nightmare Alley is a 2021 neo-noir psychological thriller film co-written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, and based on the 1946 novel of the same name by William Lindsay Gresham. It is the second feature film adaptation of Gresham's novel, following the 1947 film. A co-production between Searchlight Pictures, TSG Entertainment, and Double Dare You Productions, the film stars Bradley Cooper as a charming and ambitious carnival worker with a mysterious past who takes big risks to boost his career. Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, Mary Steenburgen, and David Strathairn also star.

Del Toro announced the film in 2017, and he produced the film alongside J. Miles Dale and Cooper. Frequent collaborator Dan Laustsen was the cinematographer, and Nathan Johnson replaced Alexandre Desplat as its 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.

Nightmare Alley premiered at Alice Tully Hall in New York City on December 1, 2021, and was theatrically released in the United States on December 17, 2021, by Searchlight Pictures. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised Del Toro’s direction, the cinematography, score, production design, and performances of Cooper and Blanchett, while criticizing the film's runtime. It flopped at the box office, grossing a total of $39.6 million worldwide against a $60 million production budget. It received four nominations at the 94th Academy Awards, including Best Picture. A black-and-white version subtitled Vision in Darkness and Light was released in select cities starting on January 14, 2022.

  1. ^ "Nightmare Alley". homecr.org. Archived from the original on September 12, 2022. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
  2. ^ "Nightmare Alley". homecr.org. Archived from the original on September 12, 2022. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Rubin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Nightmare Alley (2021)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
  5. ^ "Nightmare Alley (2021)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved April 1, 2022.