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Guillermo del Toro has made an exceptional career exploring the worlds of fantasy and monsters, including Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy, his Best Picture-winning The Shape of Water, and his latest film, Frankenstein. But Nightmare Alley is something of an outlier for the famed Mexican director. It’s his first (and currently only) foray into the noir genre, and it doesn’t have any creatures we’ve come to expect from del Toro’s work. Well, it doesn’t have monsters, but it certainly has positively monstrous humans. Stanton “Stan” Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) is down on his luck. After setting a house on fire, he wanders to a nearby carnival, where something catches his eye: a geek show. Not to be confused with our contemporary understanding of geek culture, a geek in the carnival world was a desperate man chasing chickens and devouring them. Geeks were often addicts paid in booze or narcotics. This geek Stan encounters is treated appallingly, locked up in a cage when not performing. Yet Stan can’t hide his fascination. Over time, Stan becomes more and more involved with the carnival, finding himself under the wing of Zeema (Toni Collette), a clairvoyant, and her husband Pete (David Strathairn). In the carnival, Stan comes into his own, using his artistic abilities and natural charm to learn a trick that, in the wrong hands, could unleash havoc. He falls in love with a performer, Molly (Rooney Mara), and the pair dream of a life beyond the carnival with riches and comforts they could only imagine. At a show, Stan runs into Lilith (Cate Blanchett), and the pair concoct a scheme that could give them both everything they ever wanted. Based on a book by William Lindsay Gresham of the same name (which was also adapted into a 1947 film, Nightmare Alley, starring Tyrone Power), del Toro’s Nightmare Alley is a fascinating, engrossing epic that examines how power corrupts at all levels, and the worst qualities of humanity. That may sound grim, but it’s an eerie, haunting, and deeply entertaining picture that features tremendous performances, particularly from Cooper and Blanchett. The Criterion release doesn’t just offer sublime audio and visual quality, but it also introduces the new, definitive way to experience Nightmare Alley. How was Nightmare Alley Received Upon Release? Though the film failed to catch on with audiences, earning just $39 million on a $60 million budget, the critical response was much stronger, with particular raves coming from Clarisse Loughrey for The Independent, who wrote in a 5-star review, “del Toro can do worldbuilding in his sleep, but you might also find Cooper’s brittle performance, filled with such elemental sadness, hard to shake off.” The Los Angeles Times’ Justin Chang offered similarly effusive praise, particularly highlighting Cooper's performance, saying he “undergoes an astonishing transformation, one that inspires attraction, revulsion, pity, and, most disquietingly, a spasm of recognition.” The film earned a surprising Best Picture nomination at the Academy Awards, along with three additional (and more expected) nominations for Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, and Best Production Design. Why Is Nightmare Alley Important to See Now? Nightmare Alley is something of a departure for del Toro, as it's his first film not rooted in fantasy; instead, it’s firmly planted in schemes and illusion. But the Criterion release has a brand new black-and-white version that’s the official del Toro director’s cut. It’s the version of the movie del Toro wanted everyone to see, and it’s easy to see why. Nightmare Alley feels destined to be in black-and-white. The palette evokes the era beautifully, while the use of light and shadows is nothing short of breathtaking. Certain moments, like Molly’s electrical stunts, are pop on the screen far more vividly than the film’s color version. The effects feel better suited to black-and-white; the use of snow in particular is infinitely more evocative. And Cate Blanchett is so exquisitely lit in the black-and-white version that you’d wonder why she’d ever appear in color. Every shot of her character Lilith is a work of art. What New Features Does the Nightmare Alley 4K Blu-ray Have? This Criterion release of Nightmare Alley features a fantastic assortment of special features in this mammoth 4-disc package. As previously mentioned, that includes the brand new extended director’s cut of the black-and-white version, weighing in at 159 minutes. That’s daunting, but it’s the best way to watch the film, peppering in intriguing character details and giving the narrative some space to breathe. That version of the film gets its own 4K disc, which also has a new commentary from del Toro himself, which is chock-full of fascinating information typical of a del Toro track. Del Toro offers an in-depth discussion of the noir genre, the extensive research that led to the film’s distinct production design and costuming, the visual motifs, and plenty of character specifics. That’s to say nothing of the various interviews, a 42-minute documentary, or the haunting packaging, where even the discs look like a work of art. Here are all the features available on the new Criterion release: 4K digital master of Nightmare Alley: Vision in Darkness and Light (2025), a new 159-minute, black-and-white extended director’s cut, supervised by director Guillermo del Toro, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack 4K digital master of the theatrical version of the film, with Dolby Atmos soundtrack Two 4K UHD discs of the films presented in Dolby Vision HDR and two Blu-rays with the films and special features New audio commentary on the extended director’s cut featuring del Toro New documentary on the film’s performances, visual language, costume and production design, and score New introduction by del Toro on the different versions of the film New conversation between del Toro and actor and producer Bradley Cooper New conversation between del Toro and co-screenwriter Kim Morgan Trailers English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing and English descriptive audio PLUS: An essay by crime-fiction and true-crime expert Sarah Weinman This release is a must-own for Del Toro fans, especially those who want to take another look at his Nightmare Alley. I’d highly recommend diving into the black-and-white version, which feels like the most visually arresting and complete version of this Best Picture nominee. Nightmare Alley is now available in 4K UHD/Blu-Ray from the Criterion Collection.
