Genre: Thriller
Runtime: 142 minutes
Year: 2018
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm, Chris Hemsworth, Nick Offerman
Description: Circa 1969, several strangers, most with a secret to bury, meet by chance at Lake Tahoe's El Royale, a rundown hotel with a dark past. Over the course of one night, everyone will show their true colors - before everything goes to hell.
Review: Many times I thought about Quentin Tarantino, while watching “Bad Times at the El Royale”. And that’s a compliment to director Drew Goddard, who is still looking for his own voice but is very talented. Goddard decided to use the non-chronological narration and it works!
The El Royale hotel stand on both Californian and Nevada ground. The border runs right through the middle of the hotel. And the hotel is some strange clientele. The mysterious Father Flynn, soul singer Darlene Sweet, slick salesman Laramie Sullivan and hippie girl Emily Summerspring. All of them have secrets, including the hotel itself.
Goddard has an eye for atmospheric detail, manages to create unusual camera angles and builds up the tension. It looks fantastic. Especially one scene, with Darlene singing “You Can’t Hurry Love” shows what a great filmmaker Goddard actually is.
All characters have their own reasons to be in the El Royale and the less you know from the start, the better. Jeff Bridges is strong as always. But it’s Chris Hemsworth who steals the show as Billy Lee. It takes a while for him to enter the story, but when he does, he really does.
“Bad Times at the El Royale” is a really good film, that looks great and has amazing potential. I enjoyed it from start to finish!
Rating: 4/ 5
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