The first trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley has arrived. It feels like just a handful of directors can make due with name alone these days, and del Toro is one of them. Known for directing darkly fantastical movies like Pan’s Labyrinth alongside distinctive blockbusters like Hellboy, del Toro has cemented himself as quite possibly the most exciting filmmaker working today. His latest movie since the Oscar-winning The Shape of Water, Nightmare Alley, promises to be an intriguing expansion to his filmography. It will finally arrive in December after completing production last year.
Nightmare Alley boasts a star-studded cast drove by Bradley Cooper. He plays swindler Stan Carlisle, a carny with an ability for manipulating individuals. Stan’s life is turned upside down when he meets the dangerously twisted psychiatrist Dr. Lilith Ritter (Cate Blanchett). Notwithstanding the two Oscar nominees, Nightmare Alley includes the talents of Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, Richard Jenkins, David Strathairn, Tim Blake Nelson, and Mary Steenburgen.
After teasing its arrival the entire week, Searchlight Pictures has unveiled the first trailer for del Toro’s Nightmare Alley. Clocking in at just over a minute and a large portion of, the new film plunges viewers right into the carnival at the center of the film and offers a lot of glimpses of the eccentric characters who fill it. Check it out down beneath.
The first Nightmare Alley trailer is light on plot specifics, however loaded up with a lot of striking visuals. From what resembles Stan and Lilith’s first meeting to the final shot of the former sitting in a burning room, Nightmare Alley looks gorgeous. Those tantalizing images would be enough to draw viewers in, however the voiceover from Dafoe adds an extra layer. He’s calling on carnival guests to choose if a strange being is a man or a beast, however the finish of the Nightmare Alley trailer suggests Stan could also be the subject of this discussion. Even if the genre is slightly out of his usual wheelhouse, this movie is classic del Toro. Audiences can see this chilling story play out when Nightmare Alley arrives in theaters later this year.