The Last Circus Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

The Last Circus Blu-ray Movie Review

The tears of two clowns.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 19, 2026

In a rather visceral way The Last Circus may make some think they've wandered into some alternate reality where Guillermo del Toro (maybe with an assist from Jean-Pierre Jeunet) directed La Strada. Del Toro's fascination with the Spanish Civil War and Franco's regime is certainly intact here, along with his penchant for quasi-horror (or, frankly, outright horror) motifs, not to mention at least a passing focus on children experiencing trauma. But The Last Circus, while kinda sorta utilizing a ménage à trois underpinning, also depicts a collection of carnival performers, including an abusive male mistreating his girlfriend in a way that is at least passingly reminiscent of the Fellini classic, even if the woman in this case is certainly no downtrodden naïf like Gelsomina. Jeunet's "contributions" might include a, well, labyrinthine screenplay and production design (and those aforementioned children experiencing trauma). The fact that aside and apart from any of these either intentional or accidental references The Last Circus is an allegory of sorts about the Franco regime, or at the very least a deconstruction of reactions to oppressive power, gives this phantasmagorical production some intellectual heft along with the gonzo imagery and equally bizarre performances.

The Last Circus had a long ago release in Region A courtesy of Magnolia Pictures, and Casey Broadwater's The Last Circus Blu-ray review provides plot information, a list of supplements and Casey's reaction to the technical presentation.

The Last Circus Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Last Circus is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Radiance Films' Chasm imprint with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.36:1. Radiance sent a check disc for purposes of this review, and so I'm not privy to any verbiage included in an insert booklet about the presentation, and their website offers only a minimal "high definition digital transfer from the original HDCAM" as a technical provenance, but the slightly irregular aspect ratio may suggest this was based off the same master as the old Magnolia release that Casey reviewed. One way or the other, a cursory comparison of screenshots between the two (I've attempted to replicate a couple of Casey's screenshots) show that this is indeed a very similar, and maybe even identical, looking presentation. But that's a good thing, as Casey mentioned years ago. This has a clear (in both senses of that word) digital "video" like appearance, with generally excellent (and occasionally stomach churning) fine detail levels. The palette is amazingly diverse, and de la Iglesia and cinematographer Kiko de la Rica toy with gradings and contrast throughout, adding to any already surreal nightmarish ambience.

The Last Circus Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Last Circus features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track in Spanish, omitting the Magnolia version's additional English dub (which according to Casey might be a good thing, as well). Casey gave excellent marks to Magnolia's audio presentation, but I may be even a bit more of a fan of the audio presentation offered here. This is a boisterous, even bombastic, track at times, with effects virtually assaulting the listener from all directions at times in some of the more gonzo vignettes (some might joke the entire film is a gonzo vignette). As Casey mentioned in his review, surround activity begins even before actual imagery, and there is consistent engagement of the side and rear channels continuing on throughout. Some of the more chaotic moments can offer a veritable whirlwind of sonic activity, and as Casey mentioned there are moments where the mix may seem to favor effects over dialogue, but my hunch is that was a deliberate sound design choice. Otherwise, dialogue is presented without any issues. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Last Circus Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Valeria Villegas Lindvall


• Trumpet Ballad (HD; 17:52) is a new interview with director Álex de la Iglesia, where he mentions the lack of a traditional "plot", which may be a bit of an understatement. Subtitled in English.


• Send in the Clowns (HD; 20:57) is a video essay by Xavier Aldana Reyes offering some context vis a vis the Spanish Civil War and Franco, as well as information on the film's original Spanish title which is salient in terms of some of the "archival video" included in the story.


• The Making of The Last Circus (HD; 15:23) is an archival featurette.


• Behind the Scenes Footage (HD; 7:28)


• Visual Effects Footage (HD; 10:35)


• Textless Credits (HD; 5:56)


• Teaser Trailer (HD; 00:43)


• Trailer (HD; 1:49)

The Last Circus Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I had a "colorful" uncle who ended life as a very successful real estate entrepreneur and, courtesy of some campaign management, a political kingmaker in New York, but who was a "revolutionary" in his day, including fighting with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade during the Spanish Civil War, where kind of remarkably he was captured as a POW in the conflict until a United States Senator intervened to arrange his release, so maybe just slightly weirdly I was raised on stories of that conflict in addition to my own father's World War II tales. Even that admittedly basic foreknowledge didn't prepare me in the slightest for the onslaught that is The Last Circus, and maybe that is also a good thing. Cinephiles who have already been exposed to de la Iglesia efforts like The Day of the Beast and/or Perdita Durango may have a slight preparatory "edge" for what they'll encounter in this film, but even with that experience, this is definitely a sui generis film. Technical merits are solid and Radiance has assembled some excellent supplements for this release. At least for the adventurous, Recommended.