Also disappointed. Thought it was hugely overrated. In fact, pretty much every Del Toro movie I can bring to mind is better than this one (granted I am probably forgetting his other bad ones). On balance I kind of enjoyed its atmosphere and intrigue, but the lack of rationale for key story developments really bothered me. As you say, what was the femme fatale's motivation? Why was he interested in her anyway, given that his actual partner is about two decades younger and orders of magnitude more attractive? What's the backstory with regards his dad? What's his backstory? There were too many unknowns and too many unanswered questions. The grimy circus setting could have made for an interesting series though.

I strongly disagree, I really liked this movie. Del Toro shows what a master director he is, in every scene, shot and frame you see his incredible level of control. Work of the director is usually a less noticeable aspect of the movie, but if you know how to appreciate it then you can see what a masterclass this was. The analysis scene between Stan and Lilith was so intense only a master filmmaker can make such boring concept of psychoanalysis to something so suspenseful.

So from that perspective I appreciate Del Toro even more now, although he was such a master storyteller before as well. He did had some minor problems with the stories he tell and the characters he presented before. Shape of Water is a very good movie, but I just could not connect to the characters. But in the Nightmare Alley this aspect was also greatly improved, at least from my perspective. The story, in my opinion, was much better, engaging and interesting. The actors did a great job as well, I didn't feel anyone was a miscast. If someone has a problem with Cooper then it's his personal thing. He is still not Dicaprio in high peak, but he was very good and convincing in his role.

I did feel the long duration of the movie, it was a bit exhausting and heavier towards the end. But it was such terrific ride I was perfectly ok with that. I watched the entire movie with a smile because I saw how hard Del Toro worked on every scene and I enjoyed every decision he made in this movie. That's right. I clocked you, cluck.

@silverhawkins said:

Also disappointed. Thought it was hugely overrated. In fact, pretty much every Del Toro movie I can bring to mind is better than this one (granted I am probably forgetting his other bad ones). On balance I kind of enjoyed its atmosphere and intrigue, but the lack of rationale for key story developments really bothered me. As you say, what was the femme fatale's motivation? Why was he interested in her anyway, given that his actual partner is about two decades younger and orders of magnitude more attractive? What's the backstory with regards his dad? What's his backstory? There were too many unknowns and too many unanswered questions. The grimy circus setting could have made for an interesting series though.

Not everything needs to be fed with a spoon, sometimes you need to read between the lines based on your life experience. Femme Fatale is not suppose to be fully revealed anyway, that's what makes her motivations hidden and brutal. Once you know something in every detail it loses its mystery and thus disappoints. So the story with his father, what was shown is good enough.

And your doubt regarding Stan's attraction to Lilith while he is with Molly is just plain absurd. First, it's Cate Blanchett for me any day over dull Rooney Mara, not even a competition. Second, that's a silly question. If you cannot see the rationale of super ambitious con man, that is clearly coming from a poor working class life and being two years in a relationship with simple country girl, meeting mysterious, sophisticated and seductive woman that seems to be interested in him, then I don't know how to explain it to you.

I thought it was pretty good. It would had been better with a shorter run time and some virtue signalling.

I enjoyed it a lot. Now I did watch at home where the pace works just fine. Watched in on sitting. The cat was perfect, every shot is beautiful and loved all the 3 female characters. Yeah it's dower but super enjoyable -- and I never felt it dragged. I was hooked from the beginning. It's being released in theaters in Black and White soon. As much as I'd love to see that the colors are amazing right down to the red paint on Cate Blanchette's nails.

@felixxx999 said:

I enjoyed it a lot. Now I did watch at home where the pace works just fine. Watched in on sitting. The cat was perfect, every shot is beautiful and loved all the 3 female characters. Yeah it's dower but super enjoyable -- and I never felt it dragged. I was hooked from the beginning. It's being released in theaters in Black and White soon. As much as I'd love to see that the colors are amazing right down to the red paint on Cate Blanchette's nails.

I liked it too. Nightmare Alley: Vision In Darkness And Light is the black and white version, in AMC and other theaters right now. It was made to be also released in B&W too. Nightmare Alley was originally 3 hours and 19 minutes, before being cut to 2 hours 30 minutes before release. About 40 minutes was additional carnival scenes. The 1947 version was 1 hour and 51 minutes.

I thought it was kind of predictable in that I knew exactly how it was going to end in the first 15 minutes of the movie. Overall I was pretty bored of the movie due to it's slow pace, but I stayed through it hoping to see some of the fantastical elements I've come to look forward to in a De Toro film, which in the end led to disappointment.

I'm on the "liked it" side - beautifully shot and I do like the subject of mentalists.

I enjoyed how they built up towards the ending of the fake seance and not knowing how that was going to play...obviously it was going to go wrong but I thought Rooney Maria's character would end up dead. Wasn't expecting him to go all pyscho.

As many great films, this one also went over many people's heads. I blame the abundance of products on the market because of all the streaming services. When so much movies and TV shows are being made, it's easy to miss and not appreciate something truly extraordinary. But I admit, the story is somewhat mature and it deals with themes that are not always clear to younger people. Like with the Classical music, you need to reach a certain age to start appreciating certain things. Your brain starts interpreting things differently. Watch it again when you are older, it's a real masterpiece.