How Bradley Cooper Deceives Cate Blanchett in ‘Nightmare Alley’ | Anatomy of a Scene

Bradley Cooper graduates from the sideshow to the big show in this scene from “Nightmare Alley.” But will the tricks up his sleeve be uncovered? The sequence features Cooper as Stan, a carny who has moved to the city to perform his mentalism and clairvoyance act with his professional and romantic partner, Molly (Rooney Mara). Stan is blindfolded but able to guess the objects that belong to audience members. One attendee has doubts about the act. Lilith (Cate Blanchett) believes that Stan and Molly are using verbal signals. Narrating the scene, the director Guillermo del Toro discusses how he sets up the cat-and-mouse game between Lilith and Stan, partly by the way he shines searchlights on them, and partly by how he positions them within the performance space. Read the New York Times review: Subscribe: More from The New York Times Video: ---------- Whether it’s reporting on conflicts abroad and pol