Director Guillermo del Toro‘s Nightmare Alley is set to receive a wide theatrical release on December 17th, courtesy of Searchlight Pictures, and with just a week left to go before we reach that date we’ve gotten our hands on a short clip from the film that shows stars Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett sharing a scene in the office of Blanchett’s “mysterious psychiatrist” character Lilith. There’s nothing mind-blowing in this clip, but it does give you the chance to watch Cooper and Blanchett exchange dialogue for a minute.
Based on a novel by William Lindsay Gresham (which was previously turned into a movie in 1947), Nightmare Alley is a noir thriller set in “a world of carnival hustlers and con men, telling the story of a mentalist who teams with a psychologist in order to swindle the rich.” Here’s the official synopsis:
When charismatic but down-on-his-luck Stanton Carlisle endears himself to clairvoyant Zeena and her has-been mentalist husband Pete at a traveling carnival, he crafts a golden ticket to success, using this newly acquired knowledge to grift the wealthy elite of 1940s New York society. With the virtuous Molly loyally by his side, Stanton plots to con a dangerous tycoon with the aid of a mysterious psychiatrist who might be his most formidable opponent yet.
In addition to Cooper as Stanton Carlisle and Blanchett as Lilith, the film stars Toni Collette as Zeena, David Strathairn as Pete, Rooney Mara as Molly, and Richard Jenkins as the “dangerous tycoon”. Also in the cast are Willem Dafoe, Mary Steenburgen, Ron Perlman, Holt McCallany, Clifton Collins Jr., Tim Blake Nelson, Jim Beaver, and David Hewlett.
Copies of Gresham’s novel Nightmare Alley can be purchased at THIS LINK. Del Toro wrote the adaptation with Kim Morgan. The film has been rated R for “strong/bloody violence, some sexual content, nudity and language.”
Our own JimmyO has seen Nightmare Alley and gave it a 9/10 review, so we’re highly recommending that you check this one out later this month.