Tear Jerker / Nightmare Alley (2021)

• As horrible as Stan is, it's actually quite sad to see him become a homeless, alcoholic wreck at the end of the movie, who is so desperate for work that he agrees to be a geek, established as the lowest of the low amongst carnival workers.
• The nameless geek we see early in the film is a pitiful wretch whose spirit has been mostly broken, but who still apparently empathises with the birds he has to kill - which makes it all the sadder that he ends up killing them anyway.
• The power of a "spook show" over its audience is emphasized, with mentalists able to tap into the deep loss so many people feel; this makes the Kimballs' murder-suicide especially horrific, as Stan took their love and bereavement and twisted it into something destructive.
• Molly, easily the kindest and most innocent character, is manipulated constantly by Stan and ends the movie on the run, her fate unknown.

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