I watched Guillermo del Toro's NIGHTMARE ALLEY tonight, and the thing that really struck me is the structure of the film. It is not flashy, not at all. A very standard three act structure.
I'm going to put a very thumbnail version below. Obviously, spoiler warnings. Also, it helps me to think of features in terms of a series of 7-8 blocks of 10-15 minutes --2 in Act I, 4 in Act II, 1-2 in Act III--each of which begin with a problem/goal, have their own internal complications and choices, and then end with a resolution that ideally itself creates new problems and goals. So that's why things are presented as they are.
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ACT I: STAN FINDS A NEW AND EXCITING FUTURE FOR HIMSELF
Act I, 1: Fresh off of killing his dad, Stan finds a new home at a circus.
Act I, 2: As he learns the ropes of various jobs, Stan comes up with a plan to do what Pete does on a much bigger scale.
ACT II: STAN RUNS WITH HIS NEW AND EXCITING FUTURE
Act II, 1: Stan woos Clara while he works Zeena and Pete to learn how to be a successful mentalist.
Act II, 2: Stan kills Pete, then uses what he's learned to save the circus from the police.
MIDPOINT: Clara and he leave to do their own act.
Act II, 3: Two years later, Stan has gotten bored and Rose tired; but the introduction of the shrink Lilith and a new wealthy set of marks brings him back to life. Lilith and Stan make a bargain to exchange information so as to allow him to swindle these new marks.
Act II, 4: Stan's work gets him the attention of the dangerous and wealthy Ezra Grindle, who quickly demands to see his dead daughter. Stan at first convinces Clara, but ends up having to beg to get her to stay.
LOW POINT: Stan convinces Clara to stay and do the grift, but she tells him she's done with him after.
ACT III: STAN FACES THE CONSEQUENCES OF HIS NEW AND EXCITING FUTURE
Act III, 1: Stan and Clara do the scam. It works at first, but then falls apart, leaving Stan at first alone with his money and then broke and on the run, as Lilith reveals she's been scamming him too.
Act III, 2: Stan ends up back at a circus and agrees to become its new Geek, the very "creature" that had first drawn his attention when he'd stumbled upon the circus at the top of Act I.
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In every way, really, the structure is standard, right down to the symmetry of having him become the circus monster at the end that he witnessed at the beginning.
(The one major innovation is the decision to in a sense reset the film at the midpoint, complete with new characters and issues. But the midpoint is intended to be a moment in which the story takes a major new turn, injecting new complications and momentum while still staying true to the overall arc of the act, and that's exactly how things function here.)
But saying the film looks to structural essentials as a roadmap is not to say the film is boring, obvious or unoriginal. In fact this is a great film, and a large part of what makes it so is actually its faithfulness to the fundamentals. Hitting the structural marks (and in a way that is organic to the characters rather than forced by the writer--aka the hard part) elicits a deep sense of satisfaction in the audience. Without even knowing it they have the sense of being in the presence of something that has been very carefully crafted, and that's just naturally satisfying.
Del Toro is best known for his monster movie subjects, but for me the great hallmark of his work is his attention to the craft. A movie with an innovative structure can be tremendous, but in NIGHTMARE ALLEY we see that trying to adhere to first principles of screen storytelling can also produce tremendous yield.
