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Nightmare Alley (15) (AD)

Part of Oscar Week 2022

Bradley Cooper's character in Nightmare Alley in a carnival tunnel striped with red and white

Guillermo Del Toro returns with a slick film noir adaptation, boasting an all-star cast. Nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Production Design and Best Cinematography

It’s 1939, America is beginning to feel the anxieties of World War II, and the unscrupulous Stan Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) is looking to reinvent himself after committing an undisclosed crime. True to Del Toro’s style, Nightmare Alley is a uniquely stylised and impeccably realised version of the world, marrying reality with imaginings – or nightmares – to draw the audience in to his spectacle.

In his quest for reinvention, Stan happens upon a carnival, ring-led by Willem Dafoe’s Clem Hoatley and after experiencing the brilliance (or grift) of carny performers played by Rooney MaraRon Perlman and Richard Jenkins, decides this is the world he will write himself in to. This is until he encounters Cate Blanchett’s Lilith Ritter, a corrupt and unholy psychiatrist who proves to be even more dangerous than he is.

Tagged with: Cinema Oscar Week 2022

US 2021 Dir Guillermo Del Toro 150 min

In partnership with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science

There is audio description available for this title. We provide audio description using the Dolby Screentalk system. The film soundtrack comes through the speakers in the usual way and a recorded narrator explains what is happening on screen through personal headphones. Please ask a member of staff for a set of headphones.

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