And when it finally came to building the looks, special attention was paid to Cooper’s Stanton, whose clothes were not only “impeccably tailored” to illustrate his standing but constantly changed to show his layers - or masks. Like all of his highly stylized work, this theme was baked into everything from the sets to the costuming and the music.įor Luis Sequeira, who served as the movie’s costume designer, he traveled to Europe three times to identify and purchase fabrics. I haven’t seen the final product, but I had read like, over COVID to multiple graphs from beginning to end, because it was just fun to read the evolution.”īut the director’s examination of the film’s “monsters” and what makes them tick is not only visible in the narrative heart of a movie he had been working to adapt for 30 years. “It’s far more cerebral and it was fascinating, fascinating to watch it evolve. “If you’re a fan of the original film or the novel, this film - he takes all the themes just goes layers deeper,” said star Clifton Collins Jr. It’s lacerating and it’s strangely beautiful doing so.” “This movie is about the monster that is capitalism,” he explained. Tim Blake Nelson, frequent del Toro collaborator and the actor behind Nightmare Alley‘s “Carny Boss,” acknowledges that the film is an examination of monstrous human behavior, but says capitalism is also among the monstrosities in the neo-noir psychological thriller. “How do you survive or how do you continue being the person that you were? Or do you change?” And what happens when you find yourself alone,” he explained. “It’s a movie about what you carry with you from your past - how that compromises or propels you. Strathairn told THR that the film “is a world of people are making moves for their own ends to survive, and yet they’re all contained on the same chessboard and interdependent on each other.” Their journeys are (darkly) human ones, about “confronting deep desperation” alongside “incredible joy and seeming success.” It’s a timeless story despite the film’s 1930s carnival and noir feel. Their target is Richard Jenkins’ dangerous tycoon Ezra Grindle.

The film follows Bradley Cooper’s Stanton Carlisle, a charismatic but down on his luck “carny” who, after learning a few things from Toni Collette’s clairvoyant Zeena, as well as her mentalist husband Pete (David Strathairn), attempts a grift alongside Cate Blanchett’s sharp but mysterious psychiatrist Dr.

Yet, when we get to the big city, the ‘refined people,’ the big shots, are the monsters. Those people were seen as ‘abnormal,’ but they are still a family and they understand each other with all their warts. “He looks at the carnival, much as with Tod Browning’s Freaks. Swarovski Crystal Exhibit Highlights Gloves Worn by Lady Gaga and Michael Jackson

Nightmare in the dark artwork