Film@BirrTheatre in association with Access cinema brings the best of Irish, world and independent cinema onto our very own BIG SCREEN at the theatre! Pressing play at 8pm each Thursday night, this week - Guillermo del Toro's fairground of shivering fear, in Nightmare Alley is one hell of a class act! Equipped with cast they have I'm not a bit surprised! Bradley Cooper has proven he can hold his own in most situations and with cast member Cate Blanchett involved - there's simply magic.
When charismatic but down -on-his-luck, Stanton Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) endears himself to clairvoyant Zeena (Toni Collette) and her has-been mentalist husband Pete (David Strathairn) at a traveling carnival, he crafts a golden ticket to success, using this newly acquired knowledge to grift the wealthy elite of 1940s New York Society. With the virtuous Molly (Rooney Mara) loyally by his side, Stanton plots to con a dangerous tycoon (Richard Jenkins) with the aid of a mysterious psychiatrist (Cate Blanchett) who might be his most formidable opponent yet.
Guillermo del Toro hits us with a spectacular noir melodrama boasting gruesomely enjoyable performances and freaky twists. Amongst the varying famous directors out there including Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, Ridley Scott, could there possibly be a more visually stunning and mystifying director than himself? He shows us that in spite of the old song, there are in fact a couple of businesses like showbusiness: psychoanalysis and crime. He conducts us into a fairground of fear with his usual love of the fantastical and the hallucinatory, the same adoration of classic golden age Americana and some spasms of body-horror violence.
Birr Theatre & Arts Centre is the place to be this Thursday 27 October 8pm to see Nightmare Alley. Grab a buddy or toddle on down alone, where your €7 seat will await with a warm welcome. Not bad for an evenings entertainment!
