Nightmare Alley is one of those movies that keeps you guessing from the first frame. Essentially everything about the movie is both familiar and completely foreign to the audience, making it an enticing and curiosity-filled ride. Set at the end of the Great Depression and America’s entrance into World War II, Nightmare Alley follows a mentalist who learns the power of manipulation and how his lies and scheming send him into a dark spiral that he may not be able to escape.

This visually stunning film was directed by Oscar®-winner Guillermo del Toro, who also co-wrote it with Kim Morgan based on the 1946 novel by William Lindsay Gresham. Nightmare Alley could also be considered a remake of the 1947 film of the same name, starring Tyrone Power. 

Starring Bradley Cooper, Rooney Mara, Willem Dafoe, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Richard Jenkins, and David Strathairn, here are your five screenwriting takeaways from the noir thriller Nightmare Alley.

1. Character as audience surrogate

What makes the first ten minutes of this film so intriguing is that Stan (Cooper) doesn’t say more than a couple of words. The audience watches as he drags a body into the floorboards of a vacant home and sets the place on fire, before hopping on a bus and falling asleep until arriving at a carnival set-up.

Stan walks through the carnival, seeing all the marvels and shows, intrigue and curiosity; discovering them just like the viewer would if they were in a similar situation. It’s as if the filmmaker is nudging us along and saying, “Come on this adventure with me.”

And so, the viewer does. They see the characters that we’ll soon learn more about and situations including watching Clem (Dafoe) amaze an audience by holding a chicken above a pit where observers will watch a man kill and eat it.

Because the audience discovers everything along with Stan, the characters are introduced in such as way that the viewer becomes more invested, and having Stan remain silent as he meanders means there are no questions that the audience gets answers to, thus piquing their interest.

2. Teach the audience something

Rarely does someone seek out a non-documentary film to learn something. It’s for entertainment, art or curiosity that someone wants to watch a movie. But that doesn’t mean the writer can’t teach them something along the way, anyway.

People generally do want to learn, so long as it’s not a lecture, and there are several learning moments within Nightmare Alley that gets the audience more invested. The funny thing is the learning doesn’t actually have to be something real. You can watch countless movies about robbing a bank or cracking into a vault — even if it’s based on a true story, the act is likely fabricated for story purposes.

In Nightmare Alley, Stan learns from Pete (Strathairn), a mentalist at the carnival, how he reads people’s minds. The scene involves Stan giving Zeena (Collette) an old watch and then observing how Pete — this seemingly alcoholic, broken man — guesses what it is and even “seeing” things about Stan’s past.

Stan is somewhat a natural at reading people, but now he’s learning the tricks. This scene is dialogue-heavy, but it’s also exciting because we’re learning from the magician how they ‘pull the rabbit out of the hat.’

While this is a major catalyst into Stan’s arc, writers can see how peppering areas of the script with learning opportunities keeps the audience engaged and invested.

3. Religion, superstition and the beyond

One constant theme in Nightmare Alley centers around the concept of spirituality. Ghosts haunt the characters — not literally, though.

When Pete is teaching Stan about the ways of the mentalist, he insists that he doesn’t partake in “spook shows” or acting as a medium who can speak with the dead. So insistent is Pete on this that he basically foreshadows the journey that Stan takes. Yet, in one of his acts, he convinces his mark so well of his mentalist abilities that they beg him to conduct a séance. Stan’s partner and wife, Molly (Mara), who he met at the carnival, pleads with him not to do this.

Stan convinces himself that he will bring solace to the grieved and what he does is not unlike a preacher on Sunday mornings. Stan does not shy away from his negative opinions on organized religion and compares — right or wrong — his powers to a preacher’s.

What’s important is that the religious and spiritual opinions of Stan are right for his character. It’s his justification for what he does and provides motivation for his behavior. If opinions/motivations aren’t appropriate for the character, then writers should avoid using them.

4. What is the basic conflict? Or, who’s the antagonist?

There are several basic conflicts that a story can rely on as an overall narrative:

• Man against man
• Man against nature
• Man against society
• Man against self

Determining the conflict can guide the story and give the protagonist an enemy to contend with. In Nightmare Alley, it’s Stan against himself. There is no villain or real external antagonist. His actions are often in spite of those trying to help, which drives him into a downward spiral he can’t escape.

Stan does battle wits with several characters, one being psychologist Dr. Ritter (Blanchett) who challenges his world when she gets him to lay on the couch for analysis. It’s a fascinating scene as these two match wits with one being the dominant player in this game, causing Stan to face some of his internal demons.

When writers can figure out the basic conflict, they can then use that to drive their story. It’s a useful tool when determining how to move the story forward and how they want it to ultimately end.

5. Tumultuous times

Nightmare Alley takes place during the tail end of the Great Depression and the beginning of World War II. This period in American history is filled with complicated and tragic stories. While this film is a work of fiction, the time period it takes place in offers inherent conflict and struggle; it’s a great time to tell a story.

What’s interesting, though, is that Nightmare Alley touches on a different side of the Depression: People who aren’t experiencing the troubles of the time. Stan doesn’t mention fear of being drafted or his thirst for vengeance after the attack on Pearl Harbor like so many men and women of the time. The catalyst for Stan’s “spook show” centers on his seeming ability to call upon a couple’s son who was killed in World War I.

Another tumultuous time period that often makes its way into stories is the 1960s when political assassinations, the Vietnam War, struggles for Civil Rights, and geopolitical threats blanketed the national psyche.

Time periods like the Great Depression, World War II, and the 1960s are often rife with stories that relate to modern times. It’s a device writers can use when they want to make a subtle statement on current affairs. Nightmare Alley does just this.

Nightmare Alley is currently playing in theaters.