Where to watch
Each link opens a search on that service. Checked 13 October 2026.
Streaming data from JustWatch
Nightmare Alley
2021
· Movie
· 150 min
C
MEANRANK
70/100
Where it ranks
- Mean Score #2349
- IMDb #2162
- Google retired #3054
- Rotten Tomatoes #2128
- Metacritic #1652
- Letterboxd #2349
+9 more
- Rotten Tomatoes Critics #2004
- Rotten Tomatoes Audience #2778
- Metacritic Critics #1430
- Metacritic Audience #2089
- Criticker #1546
- Douban #1835
- Kinopoisk #2427
- AlloCiné #1183
- Trakt #2596
Every rating
51–80
out of 100
Mostly agreed
Lowest is Criticker on 51, highest is Rotten Tomatoes critics on 80.
See the films the platforms disagree about most →A ambitious and cunning carnival worker with a talent for manipulating people learns the tricks of the mentalist trade. He hooks up with a mysterious psychologist and graduates to swindling the wealthy elite of 1940s high society. His schemes grow increasingly dangerous as he attempts to con a powerful and ruthless tycoon.
Details
- Director
- Guillermo del Toro
- Writers
- Guillermo del Toro, Kim Morgan
- Based on
- Nightmare Alley by William Lindsay Gresham
- Studio
- Searchlight Pictures, Double Dare You
- Released
- 2 December 2021
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English, French
- Runtime
- 150 min
- Rated
- R
- Budget
- $60.0M
- Box office
- $39.6M
- Awards
- 10 wins, 51 nominations
This title elsewhere
Cast
Full cast (54) →
Awards & nominations
See all 61 →1 major award won · 10 wins from 61 nominations across 25 ceremonies
| Art Directors Guild 2022 | Period Feature Film | Tamara Deverell | Winner |
| Academy Awards 2022 | Best Picture | Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale, and Bradley Cooper | Nominee |
| Academy Awards 2022 | Best Cinematography | Dan Laustsen | Nominee |
| Academy Awards 2022 | Best Costume Design | Luis Sequeira | Nominee |
| Academy Awards 2022 | Best Production Design | Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau | Nominee |
| Critics Choice Movie Awards 2022 | Best Picture | Nightmare Alley | Nominee |
| Critics Choice Movie Awards 2022 | Best Cinematography | Dan Laustsen | Nominee |
| Critics Choice Movie Awards 2022 | Best Costume Design | Luis Sequeira | Nominee |
Awards from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
More like this
Beyond the numbers
All lists →
30 October 2026
Denzel Washington is more than an actor: a global Black cultural icon
How global visibility, artistic freedom and a commanding public presence gave his career a meaning that reaches beyond the films.
29 October 2026
Why Batman works without superpowers—and when the films forget why
Fear, money, detective work and moral limits: four Batman films test what makes Bruce Wayne worth watching.
29 October 2026
Five great directorial debuts, ranked for what is already on screen
Citizen Kane, The 400 Blows, Get Out, Reservoir Dogs and Following: first features judged without borrowing greatness from the careers that followed.
29 October 2026
TV shows with Black female leads: four series worth arguing about
Insecure, Queen Sugar, Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder, ranked for character writing, dramatic range and the lives they make room for.
29 October 2026
TV shows with the best song choices: five different ways to get it right
The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, The O.C., Peaky Blinders and Euphoria: what their songs do beyond making a scene sound good.
8 October 2026
Leonardo DiCaprio's films, ranked—and the performances inside them
Twenty-one selected films, with a closer look at the acting: comic timing, self-invention, wounded authority and the effort that sometimes shows.
Just released
See all →
Coming soon
Trailer — Nightmare Alley
×Full cast — Nightmare Alley
×
61 awards — Nightmare Alley
×
Art Directors Guild
1 nomination, 1 won
| Period Feature Film | Tamara Deverell | Winner |
Critics Choice Movie Awards
8 nominations
| Best Cinematography | Dan Laustsen | Nominee |
| Best Costume Design | Luis Sequeira | Nominee |
| Best Director | Guillermo del Toro | Nominee |
| Best Hair and Makeup | Nightmare Alley | Nominee |
| Best Picture | Nightmare Alley | Nominee |
| Best Production Design | Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau | Nominee |
| Best Score | Nathan Johnson | Nominee |
| Best Visual Effects | Nightmare Alley | Nominee |
Academy Awards
4 nominations
| Best Cinematography | Dan Laustsen | Nominee |
| Best Costume Design | Luis Sequeira | Nominee |
| Best Picture | Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale, and Bradley Cooper | Nominee |
| Best Production Design | Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau | Nominee |
Screen Actors Guild Awards
1 nomination
| Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role | Cate Blanchett | Nominee |
Writers Guild of America Awards
1 nomination
| Best Adapted Screenplay | Guillermo del Toro and Kim Morgan | Nominee |
Saturn Awards
11 nominations, 3 won
| Best Production Design | Tamara Deverell | Winner |
| Best Thriller Film | Nightmare Alley | Winner |
| Best Writing | Guillermo del Toro and Kim Morgan | Winner |
| Best 4K Home Media Release | Nightmare Alley | Nominee |
| Best Actress | Cate Blanchett | Nominee |
| Best Costume Design | Luis Sequeira | Nominee |
| Best Director | Guillermo del Toro | Nominee |
| Best Editing | Cam McLauchin | Nominee |
| Best Make-Up | Jo-Ann MacNeil, Mike Hill and Megan Many | Nominee |
| Best Music | Nathan Johnson | Nominee |
| Best Supporting Actor | Richard Jenkins | Nominee |
AARP Movies for Grownups Awards
5 nominations, 1 won
| Best Ensemble | Nightmare Alley | Winner |
| Best Director | Guillermo del Toro | Nominee |
| Best Screenwriter | Guillermo del Toro and Kim Morgan | Nominee |
| Best Supporting Actor | David Strathairn | Nominee |
| Best Supporting Actress | Cate Blanchett | Nominee |
San Diego Film Critics Society
5 nominations, 1 won
| Best Production Design | Tamara Deverell | Winner |
| Best Cinematography | Dan Laustsen | Nominee |
| Best Director | Guillermo Del Toro | Nominee |
| Best Sound Design | Nathan Robitaille | Nominee |
| Best Supporting Actress | Cate Blanchett | Nominee |
Motion Picture Sound Editors
3 nominations, 1 won
| Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Feature Dialogue / ADR | Jill Purdy and Nelson Ferreira | Winner |
| Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Feature Effects / Foley | Nathan Robitaille, Dashen Naidoo, Chelsea Body, Goro Koyama and Andy Malcolm | Nominee |
| Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Feature Music | Clint Bennett, Kevin Banks and Cecile Tournesac | Nominee |
Hollywood Critics Association
2 nominations, 1 won
| Best Production Design | Tamara Deverell | Winner |
| Best Director | Guillermo del Toro | Nominee |
San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle
2 nominations, 1 won
| Best Production Design | Tamara Deverell | Winner |
| Best Cinematography | Dan Laustsen | Nominee |
American Cinematheque - Tribute To The Crafts
1 nomination, 1 won
| Feature Film - Production Designer/Set Decorator | Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau | Winner |
British Academy Film Awards
3 nominations
| Best Cinematography | Dan Laustsen | Nominee |
| Best Costume Design | Luis Sequeira | Nominee |
| Best Production Design | Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau | Nominee |
Houston Film Critics Society
3 nominations
| Best Cinematography | Dan Laustsen | Nominee |
| Best Director | Guillermo del Toro | Nominee |
| Best Ensemble Cast | Nightmare Alley | Nominee |
American Society Of Cinematographers
1 nomination
| Feature Film | Dan Laustsen, ASC, DFF | Nominee |
Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association
1 nomination
| Best Picture | Nightmare Alley | Nominee |
Georgia Film Critics Association
1 nomination
| Best Production Design | Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau | Nominee |
Hollywood Music in Media Awards
1 nomination
| Best Original Score in a Feature Film | Nathan Johnson | Nominee |
National Board of Review
1 nomination
| Top Ten Films | Nightmare Alley | Nominee |
Online Film Critics Society
1 nomination
| Best Production Design | Tamara Deverell | Nominee |
Seattle Film Critics Society
1 nomination
| Best Production Design | Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau | Nominee |
Set Decorators Society of America Awards
1 nomination
| Best Achievement in Décor/Design of a Period Feature Film | Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau | Nominee |
St. Louis Film Critics Association
1 nomination
| Best Production Design | Tamara Deverell | Nominee |
Visual Effects Society Awards
1 nomination
| Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature | Dennis Berardi, Ryan MacDuff, Mark Hammond, David Roby and Geoff Hill | Nominee |
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association
1 nomination
| Best Production Design | Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau | Nominee |