The first trailer for filmmaker Guillermo del Toro's psychological thriller Nightmare Alley starring Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett has dropped. The film, which will hit the screens on December 17, follows the story of Stan Carlisle played by Cooper, an ambitious carny with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words, as he meets Dr. Lilith Ritter essayed by Blanchett, a psychiatrist who is even more dangerous than he is.
The cast also features Willem Dafoe, Toni Collette, Richard Jenkins, Ron Perlman, Rooney Mara, Holt McCallany, Tim Blake Nelson, Mary Steenburgen, David Strathairn and Clifton Collins Jr, reports variety.com. Others who will appear in the film include Jim Beaver, Mark Povinelli and David Hewlett and Paul Anderson.
Man or Beast.
NIGHTMARE ALLEY A Film by Guillermo del Toro
Only in Theaters December 17@RealGDT pic.twitter.com/VIyEYDW0Vu— Searchlight Pictures (@searchlightpics) September 16, 2021
Based on William Lindsay Gresham's 1946 novel of the same name, Nightmare Alley marks a departure for the 'Shape of Water' director, as it contains no "supernatural" elements. "Now is the first chance I have to do a real underbelly of society type of movie," del Toro told Collider in 2019. He added then: "(There are) no supernatural elements. Just a straight, really dark story."
The director had also confirmed that the film is very R-rated. The movie is written by del Toro and Kim Morgan, and distributed by Searchlight Pictures. J. Miles Dale produces with del Toro, whose usual collaborators Luis Sequeira and Dan Laustsen are the costume designer and cinematographer, respectively.