Nightmare Alley follows Stanton Carlisle, played by Bradley Cooper, as he travels from a mysterious past into an uncertain future. Surrounded on all sides by characters with their own motivations and ambitions, follow the development of a wandering carnival performer on his ascent of the social ladder by exploiting the skills he has learned over years. The film explores themes of ambition, morality, and the dark side of the American Dream, all set against the backdrop of the seedy world of carnival life in the 1940s.