Welcome back to Movie Recaps. Today I will show you a thriller,
drama film from 2021, titled Nightmare Alley. Spoilers ahead! Watch out and take care.
In 1939 in the middle of nowhere, Stan buries a body in the floor of an old cabin before setting
it all on fire. Afterward, he wanders around the countryside for a while until he comes across a
carnival and decides to take a look. There's a variety of freak shows to watch, but Stan
is particularly interested in two: one is Molly, the beautiful woman that can electrocute herself.
The other is the Geek, a deranged man that eats a live chicken in front of the public.
The carnival bosses, Bruno and Clem, offer Stan a job with them, and he accepts. He begins traveling
with them doing various jobs, like selling merch, helping put up and down the tents, and catching
the Geek whenever he escapes his cage. The first time, Stan hits him in self-defense, but then he
starts feeling bad for the Geek, and one night he even shares a cigarette with the poor guy.
One day, the carnival stops near a house belonging to Zeena and Pete, a couple that used to work as
mentalists. They join the carnival with their act, which consists of using coded language and
cold reading to trick their audience. Their coded language is all written down on a little book,
and cold reading is just a matter of learning how to read a person's body language, fashion style,
and level of education, among other things. Pete is an alcoholic, so whenever he's distracted,
Zeena and Stan get busy behind his back. Stan convinces the couple to teach him their tricks,
so in his free time, he practices with them or hangs out with Molly. The two of them become
very close, and Stan even comes up with an idea to improve her act, which she adores.
Bruno, who feels responsible for Molly since her dad died, gives Stan the shovel talk to protect
her. Stan promises not to hurt her, and later, he asks Molly to get away with him so they could have
an act of their own in the city. They almost kiss, but Molly runs to her cart without an answer.
That night, the Geek hits his head pretty badly. His fever won't come down,
so Clem asks Stan to help him take the Geek down to town. After a quick drive, they abandon the
Geek at a homeless shelter. Then during dinner, Clem explains how he usually acquires his Geeks:
he finds desperate addicts in alleys and manipulates them with sweet words.
Later, after their practice, Pete begs Stan to get him a sugar cane bottle from Clem's stash, and
Stan complies. When Pete falls asleep, Stan tries to take a look at his code book, but Pete suddenly
wakes up and takes it away from him. He explains the book can be misused, and the man starts
believing he truly has the power, which takes him to hurt people. The next morning, Zeena finds Pete
dead. Many days later, the police arrive at the carnival to shut it down for illegal practices.
When they go to Molly to get her for indecency, Stan quickly cuts in and activates the electricity
as he pushes the deputies back, pretending he's saved their lives. Then he begins using his new
cold reading skills to pretend he's in contact with the sheriff's dead mother, who asks his son
to be merciful to these poor workers. The sheriff falls for it and agrees to leave with his men, so
the carnival has effectively been saved. Molly is so impressed by Stan's quick thinking skills that
she finally agrees to run away with him. The two of them kiss, and right after Molly admits she's
never gone all the way with a man, Bruno finds them and begins beating up Stan. Fortunately,
Molly stops Bruno as she explains she loves Stan and will be leaving with him. In the morning,
Stan gives his last goodbye to Zeena, who allows him to keep Pete's book because he's earned it.
Two years later, Stan and Molly have become a very successful psychic show among the wealthy elite of
Buffalo where a blindfolded Stan guesses people's possessions following Molly's verbal cues.
Sadly, Stan can never stop dreaming about that day in the cabin: he continues to feel upset because
the man that he buried that day was his father. One night during a show, a beautiful woman called
Lilith tries to make Stan guess what's inside her bag without letting Molly talk to him because she
suspects they're using a verbal code. However by using cold reading, Stan still manages to guess
there's a gun inside her bag and humiliates Lilith in front of everyone, reminding her
she has no power. Then, he turns to Judge Kimball and pretends to be in contact with his dead son.
After the show is over and they return to the dressing room, Molly scolds Stan for giving the
man a spook when Pete had warned him that spook shows were always a very bad idea. Since Kimball
wants to meet them properly before they leave, Molly convinces Stan to tell Kimball the truth and
offer closure. However, when the meeting finally happens and Kimball offers good pay if Stan comes
to his house for a private consultation with his wife, Stan breaks his promise to Molly and takes
the job. Lilith also stops by and leaves Stan her card, which presents her as a psychologist. The
next day, Stan visits Lilith at her office, where she has recordings of every therapy session with
her clients, including Kimball. Stan admits he uses tricks for his show and explains how
he does it, which fascinates Lilith because his cold reading uses elements of psychology.
So when Stan asks for information about Kimball's private life, Lilith accepts in exchange for
being Stan's therapist, and he agrees. After Lilith tells him all about Kimball's dead son,
she begins making questions of her own, calling Stan out for his fear of alcohol and getting him
to admit he may've killed Pete, who Stan saw as a father figure better than his real alcoholic,
abusive dad. In the meantime, Stan and Molly's relationship begins to deteriorate, and every time
Molly calls Bruno to check on her old friends, she admits she misses them and ends up in tears.
Some of the carnival workers come to visit them and while having dinner together, Zeena reads
Stan's future with her tarot cards, warning him of incoming danger if he does the spook show.
A few days later, Stan acts behind Molly's back and does the spook show for the Kimballs anyway,
which is a big success thanks to Lilith's information. To give Kimball's wife peace,
Stan tells her that her son is sure they'll reunite again someday. After the show is over,
Stan visits Lilith and offers her half of the money. Lilith turns it down, but she accepts
to keep it all in her safe so Molly doesn't see it. Stan also gives her some big news:
Kimball is so impressed with him that he wants him to do a private show for a friend, and Lilith
promises to look into it during her next session with Kimball. Sometime later, Lilith calls Stan to
tell him what she's found out: this friend Kimball wants to introduce Stan used to be Lilith's
patient for only a very brief amount of time. He's unpredictable, powerful, and extremely dangerous.
Stan wants to do the show anyway, so Lilith tells her the little she knows. When the time comes to
do this new show, Stan goes to a rather fancy building and is welcomed by bodyguard Anderson,
who pats him down before he's finally allowed to meet Kimball's friend Grindle. Strangely,
Stan isn't taken to an office or a room. Grindle is a very private person that doesn't go out in
public, so before he shares anything with Stan, he makes him sit on a lie detector right there
in the middle of a hallway. Stan begins answering the questions but he's afraid of being found out,
so he interrupts the interrogation by saying he's being contacted by the spirit of a dead
woman called Dorrie whom Grindle forced to have a miscarriage. The employees stay skeptical of
Stan's abilities because the machine has mixed results, but Grindle is convinced Stan is the real
deal because he couldn't just have guessed that. After the show is over, Stan goes to see Lilith
to inform her of his success. Grindle wants more shows in the future, but Lilith refuses to share
more information: this guy is dangerous, and she's the only one that knew about the miscarriage, so
if Stan slips it'll get her in trouble too. While Lilith's in the bathroom, Stan makes an imprint
of her keys on his notebook, but she isn't done with him yet. Lilith comes back to the office and
shows Stan a scar on her belly, warning him again about the dangers of messing with powerful people.
Stan ignores the warning and kisses her scar, marking the beginning of an affair between them.
Once working hours are over, Stan returns to the office using a copy of the key he's
made and access Lilith's recordings to find out more about Grindle. He also bribes an employee
at the department of health to have access to the possessions found on Dorrie's body when she died,
including a picture that shows Dorrie looks a lot like Molly. The next session with Grindle is also
a success thanks to all this new information, but things get awkward when Grindle asks Stan to make
Dorrie's spirit appear before him. Stan tries to dodge the request, saying Grindle needs to
be purer of heart to see her, but Grindle pushes some extra money in his hands to make it happen.
Afterward, Stan takes the money to Lilith's safe, and she gets him to finally start drinking.
The following day, Stan tries to convince Molly to play Dorrie,
but she doesn't think it's a good idea. Their talk is interrupted by Anderson,
who's come to pick Stan up but also to give him a warning: he's fond of his boss and owes him a lot,
so he threatens Stan not to do anything weird or hurtful. Then, Anderson takes Stan to see Grindle,
who gets furious when Stan pulls the same old message tricks - Stan better make Dorrie appear
or Grindle will make him regret it. Meanwhile, Kimball's wife can't stop thinking about Stan's
words from her son saying they would reunite someday. While sharing a meal, she takes out
a gun and ends things for both her husband and herself so they can be with their son again.
Back to Stan, he convinces Molly to play Dorrie so they can get this over with. While Stan gets
everything ready, Molly looks at the sketches of Dorrie in Stan's book to get her look right,
but she's shocked to find he's been sketching Lilith as well. Now she knows of the affair,
Molly decides to leave, leaving a note for Stan when he comes back. Stan rushes to the station
to stop her, scaring Molly with his forceful words and stench of alcohol. At first, Molly refuses to
cooperate, but he convinces her to change her mind by promising she's allowed to leave for
good after she helps him survive the show. When night falls, the duo gets everything ready at
the garden Grindle built for Dorrie. After sending Anderson back inside with the excuse of privacy,
Stan starts the séance, and wanting to be pure of heart for Dorrie, Grindle confesses all his sins,
saying he's hurt many women through the years as if that could help him find Dorrie again.
At that moment, Molly appears at the end of the garden dressed as Dorrie and covered in fake
blood. Unfortunately, the plan is ruined when Stan can't convince Grindle to stay behind to
pray - instead, Grindle runs to Molly and hugs her before realizing she is not really Dorrie.
Furious, Grindle hits Molly and calls for Anderson, who is inside hearing the news of
the Kimbells' deaths on the radio. Stan shuts Grindle up by punching him until he's dead,
then he runs with Molly to the car as Anderson comes out and begins shooting at them.
It doesn't take him long to catch up with them, but as soon as Anderson comes near,
Stan hits him with his car twice before leaving. The car is taken to an alley where Stan starts
breaking the windows so it looks like it had been stolen. Molly is horrified by this man she can't
recognize and slaps Stan before finally leaving him for good. Afterward, Stan goes to see Lilith
so he can get his money back and escape the city. Lilith gets the bag with the cash ready for him,
and after drinking a lot of whiskey, Stan tries to leave, but Lilith gets him to stay by kissing him
and saying she loves him. Stan begins to get suspicious when Lilith turns on the recorder
for his final session so he throws the money on the floor and discovers it's all singles.
The betrayal makes Stan freak out, but Lilith stays calm, calling him delusional and pointing
out he can't prove anything about her involvement in his shows. She is incredibly disappointed by
Stan for being just another money-obsessed man and shoots him, proving she is powerful after all. The
bullet only grazes his head, so Stan jumps on Lilith and tries to kill her while she's on the
phone with security. Hearing the guards are coming for him, Stan escapes the building and runs to the
train station to hide inside a carriage behind a bunch of chicken cages. As the train takes
off with Stan inside, he once again thinks of his father and that horrible day in the cabin.
It turns out Stan told his old man he hated him before opening the window on a snowy
day to let him die of hypothermia. From then on, Stan begins to wander around like a hobo,
sometimes joining other groups of vagrants to share their fire. One night, after Stan exchanges
his father's watch for alcohol, Stan sees an ad in the newspaper promoting Zeena's new show. He
decides to look for a job at the nearest carnival, but the boss isn't interested in his mentalist
tricks because they're too old-timey. However, he does have another position for him. As soon
as he realizes he's being given the Geek speech, Stan laugh and accepts, saying he was born for it.