Thursday, January 8, 2026

Mexican director’s film Nightmare Alley earns 4 Oscar nominations

A film by a Mexican director is competing on four fronts at this year’s Academy Awards.

Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley was nominated for best picture, best cinematography, best costume design and best production design.

The 150-minute psychological thriller tells the story of a carnival worker who takes a big risk to boost his career.

It is based on the 1946 novel of the same name by William Lindsay Gresham and stars Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett.

Critics gave the movie an 80% approval on ratings site Rotten Tomatoes, while 68% of public reviewers offered it the thumbs up.

NIGHTMARE ALLEY | Official Trailer | Searchlight Pictures

Del Toro, a Guadalajara native, won best director for his 2006 film Pan’s Labyrinth and best picture for 2017’s The Shape of Water.

However, he isn’t the only Mexican with a stake in this year’s awards: CODA, a film starring Eugenio Derbez, is nominated for best picture and best adapted screenplay and Carlos López Estrada’s Raya And The Last Dragon is up for best animated feature film.

The film that gained most nominations this year was Power of the Dog, with 12, while Dune received 10 and Belfast and West Side Story were both given seven nominations.

The 94th Academy Awards will take place on March 27 at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre.

With reports from El Financiero and BBC Mundo

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