Criminally Underrated Guillermo del Toro Thriller Is Now On Hulu and its Perfect for Winter
I have said many times that Guillermo del Toro has the Midas touch. He does. His features consistently perform well at the box office and almost always win over critics. He has churned out hit after hit since bursting onto the scene in the ‘90s. However, even GdT swings and misses on occasion. That’s right, his 2021 noir thriller Nightmare Alley didn’t clean up at the box office like nearly all of his other films have previously. Thankfully, Hulu is here to pick up the pieces. But in the director’s defense, it wasn’t his fault.
I think ineffective marketing is partially to blame for the lackluster box office showing. The picture resonated with critics. And moviegoers who turned out to see the feature were taken with it. So, the problem isn’t with the film itself.
Nightmare Alley cost $60 million to make (before marketing). But it only pulled in $39.6 million during its theatrical exhibition. That’s not ideal. However, one must also remember that the film was released in 2o21 during the COVID-19 pandemic. So, taking in nearly $40 million isn’t so bad when stopping to consider that. Additionally, the flick had a moment on streaming. After the picture scored 4 Oscar nominations, Nightmare Alley pulled ahead of its contemporaries as the most-streamed Best Picture nominee of the year.
On that basis, I’m inclined to say that the film wasn’t a flop, more than a moderate success that took a moment to find its audience amidst the chaos.
Where is Nightmare Alley streaming?
If you think you may be among the target audience for this picture, head over to Hulu, where you can find it streaming as of the publication of this post.
Nightmare Alley is based on the 1946 novel by William Lindsay Gresham. The tome was previously adapted for the screen in 1947 by Edmund Goulding.
The setup for this Guillermo del Toro film (on Hulu) goes like this:
In 1940s New York, down-on-his-luck Stanton Carlisle endears himself to a clairvoyant and her mentalist husband at a traveling carnival. Using newly acquired knowledge, Carlisle crafts a golden ticket to success by swindling the elite and wealthy. Hoping for a big score, he soon hatches a scheme to con a dangerous tycoon with help from a mysterious psychologist who might be his most formidable opponent yet.
Will you tune into Hulu for this masterpiece? Let us know. That’s all we’ve got, for now. Stay tuned to Dread Central for more updates on which films within your interest set are streaming and where to find them in the very near future.
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