Brief Story Line
Set in the 1940s, Stan (Bradley Cooper - A Star is Born, Silver Linings Playbook etc) got a job in a carnival owned by Clem (Willem Dafoe - Spider-man: No Way Home, Murder on the Orient Express etc) who managed various acts, including a geek show where a wild person ate live chicken during the act. While in the carnival, Stan assisted Madame Zeema (Toni Collette - Hereditary, Unlocked etc) and learned about the psychic act from Zeema's partner Pete (David Strathairn - The Firm, Nomadland etc).
Stan also got close to Molly (Rooney Mara - Lion, Mary Magdalene etc) and tried to lure her away from the carnival and be independent. This made other carnival members Bruno (Ron Perlman - Monster Hunter, Beauty & the Beast TV series etc) and Major (Mark Povinelli) despise Stan's actions.
When Stan finally got his chance, he did make a name for himself doing psychic act together with Molly. However, he was soon challenged by Lilith (Cate Blanchett - Don't Look Up, Ocean's 8 etc) who suspected his act as fraud. So what would happen to Stan and how would the story conclude? Find them all in this artistic movie.
End of Brief Story Line
This movie turned out to be something different from what I expected. When I saw the trailer shown in the cinemas few times earlier, I got the impression that the story would be set entirely at the carnival with a bit of mystery solving and strong noir feel. So when the movie progressed as it was, I felt it was still enjoyable, even if there was no mystery & investigation at all. For such a movie, the pace was understandably not fast and the story telling was steady, till it got to the pretty awesome climax.
Got to hand it to Guillermo del Toro who managed to make this into an artistic movie. I guess should not come as a surprise, considering his past works included winner of Academy Awards The Shape of Water and Pan's Labyrinth or other stylish movie like Crimson Peak and more commercial films such as Blace II, Hellboy, Pacific Rim etc. Btw, this movie was nominated for Best Picture in the 94th Academy Awards plus other nominations including cinematography and costume design which were truly well done.
The ensemble cast here did their job nicely, although it seemed the Academy Awards team were not that impressed since not a single one of the actors/actresses was nominated. I personally liked Bradley Cooper whose characterization was quite convincing from start to finish. Cate Blanchett was equally great in here. Other than those names I mentioned above, there was one more character which was important, i.e. Ezra Grindle (Richard Jenkins - The Shape of Water, Six Feet Under TV series etc) and few familiar faces for me like Jim Beaver (Timeless TV series etc) and Holt McCallany (Wrath of a Man etc).
Personally for me, despite all the goods of the movie, I felt that the first half was a bit too long and detailed which made it having a very long duration of 150 minutes without any mid or post end credit scenes. But I guess it cannot be helped since it was del Toro's distinct style. Oh, this movie was classified for 21+ in Disney+ due mature content, though I did not see anything that really fit into that category (unless if such scenes have been censored in Indonesia, or it was taken out to maintain Disney's image as family friendly).
Overall this was a pretty entertaining movie if you like this artsy type or you like Guillermo del Toro's directing style. It has a nice build up to the climax but most likely I would enjoy it better if the first half was shortened a bit since to me the second half was the really interesting part. In case you are not aware, this film is a remake of 1947 movie and both were adapted from 1946 novel of same title written by William Lindsay Gresham. So if you want to see why this movie garnered positive reviews including those nominations, then you are welcome to give it a try easily as it's available on Disney+.
Mike's movie moments rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
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