Nightmare Alley (2021)
In 1939, Stanton “Stan” Carlisle burns down his Midwestern home after putting a body in a hole in the floor and takes a job as a carny. When the travelling carnival’s geek becomes ill, owner Clem enlists Stan to help him dispose of the man, and explains that he seeks out alcoholics or drug addicts, who are often men with troubled pasts, and lures them in with promises of a temporary job and gives them opium-laced alcohol. He uses their dependence to physically and mentally abuse them until they sink into madness and depravity, thus creating a geek for his carnival. Clem then shows Stan where he stores the moonshine he brews to control the carnies, warning him not to mistake it for the wood alcohol he stores nearby.
Stan works with the clairvoyant act “Madame Zeena” and her alcoholic husband, Pete. Zeena and Pete use cold reading and an ingenious coded language system to make it seem that she has extraordinary mental powers, which Pete begins teaching to Stan. He and Zeena warn Stan not to use these skills to continue leading patrons on when it comes to the dead; they always inform customers afterward that the show is a deception; otherwise, people get hurt. Meanwhile, Stan becomes attracted to fellow performer Molly and approaches her with an idea for a two-person act away from the carnival.
Date of download: 2015-11-11T17:22:34+00:00
Cast:  Bradley CooperStanton Carlisle  Cate BlanchettDr. Lilith Ritter  Toni ColletteZeena the Seer  Willem DafoeClem Hoatley  Richard JenkinsEzra Grindle  Rooney MaraMolly Cahill  Ron PerlmanBruno  Mary SteenburgenMrs. Kimball  David StrathairnPete  Holt McCallanyAnderson |
In 1939, Stanton “Stan” Carlisle burns down his Midwestern home after putting a body in a hole in the floor and takes a job as a carny. When the travelling carnival’s geek becomes ill, owner Clem enlists Stan to help him dispose of the man, and explains that he seeks out alcoholics or drug addicts, who are often men with troubled pasts, and lures them in with promises of a temporary job and gives them opium-laced alcohol. He uses their dependence to physically and mentally abuse them until they sink into madness and depravity, thus creating a geek for his carnival. Clem then shows Stan where he stores the moonshine he brews to control the carnies, warning him not to mistake it for the wood alcohol he stores nearby.
Stan works with the clairvoyant act “Madame Zeena” and her alcoholic husband, Pete. Zeena and Pete use cold reading and an ingenious coded language system to make it seem that she has extraordinary mental powers, which Pete begins teaching to Stan. He and Zeena warn Stan not to use these skills to continue leading patrons on when it comes to the dead; they always inform customers afterward that the show is a deception; otherwise, people get hurt. Meanwhile, Stan becomes attracted to fellow performer Molly and approaches her with an idea for a two-person act away from the carnival.
