Review of Bad Times at the El Royale (2018) by Katie R — 19 Oct 2018

What happens when a priest (Jeff Bridges) two damaged sisters, Emily and Rose (played by Dakota Johnson and Cailee Spaeny respectively), a lounge-singing musical savant named Darlene Sweet (played by Cynthia Erivo), a damaged hotel concierge named Miles (Lewis Pullman), and a charismatic cult leader named Billy (Chris Hemsworth), walk into a run down hotel that straddles the state lines between California and Nevada? Not exactly what you expect to happen. In fact, there is nothing in the trailer that would give away a single cogent plot point about the movie. The film opens with a montage of a man trying too hard to stay clandestine, hiding money in the most surreptitious way possible, all while some 60s era Motown goodness blares in the background. We usually expect such things to tell us something about the world of the film, this does little to do that, leaving much of the film to be a surprise as the man is shot and the mystery that unravels throughout the film ensues. This film tries to bill itself as a modern-day thriller but that would be deceiving. What this film is, as well as what it does, is a brilliant character study in what secrets do to a group of strangers as they struggle to keep them entirely self-contained. We are introduced to the first four strangers quickly, as they try to check into a sleepy, mostly deserted, glamorous-once-upon-a-time hotel. There finally greeted by our fourth stranger, the sleepy hotel clerk who also moonlights as cleaning crew and bartender. Not-so-subtle undertones of racism and classism drip throughout the dialogue as the three patrons fight for their desired space in the hotel.

The editing and camerawork are generally unremarkable, with the opening sequence containing far too many jump cuts for my liking, but where the movie shines rests on what happens to each of these characters as they explore the hotel or try to hide away in the rooms. We find that the hotel itself, apart from containing the usual rooms in various amenities, also contains a kind of modern-day catacombs beneath it, through which hotel staff can easily spy on and record the activities of its guests. This movie starts to give you the feeling that you are intruding on people's very dark and private lives... And that's exactly what it wants to explore, the secrets we keep.

The film seems to draw inspiration from Quentin Tarantino films like Pulp Fiction; the dialogue is tightly written and witty, and the film does not progress in a linear fashion. The film divides the structure of the plot with title cards, each segment of the film shows us a glimpse of the characters past and what their driving desire is, and what brings them to the hotel. Jeff Bridges plays a dubious priest named father Daniel Flynn, but as the film progresses, we discover that he is a washed-up bank robber looking to collect the money that his brother had hidden at this hotel. We also are given clues to the character's mental state, as he peppers his interactions with other characters with comments such as, "my memory isn't what it used to be." Or things like, "I'm getting old." In fact, during one flashback montage, we are given a scene where "Father Flynn" is receiving his dementia diagnosis in the cold sterile confines of his doctor's office. Darlene Sweet is a young lounge singer looking to escape fame at the cost of acquiescing to the groping hands of male music producers and decides she would rather ply her trade on her own in the less glamorous setting of Reno, Nevada. Jon Hamm plays an undercover FBI agent masquerading as a racist, Southern vacuum salesman. In this film, his character gets killed off relatively early and this was surprising given that the film kind of fools you into thinking his character would've played a much larger part. The two sisters, Emily and Rose Summerspring, on the run from the charismatic cult leader, Billy Lee; however, the younger sister Rose is clearly in love with a narcissistic fanatic as when we are first introduced to the sisters, Rose is tied up, her sister fearing that she would flee. Billy Lee is a psychopath who seems to be based on Charles Manson, he's physically attractive and seduces with both wordplay and sadistic games that involve his followers. Towards the end of the film, it seems as though the rest of the characters are going to be murdered by this crazed hedonist, but Miles Miller, a man we are initially introduced to as a mousy, forgettable hotel concierge transforms into a reluctant hero that dispatches the assailants with ease (which we find out is due to extensive military training and a horrifying kill streak). Overall, this movie is about what it means to confront the darker notes of the human experience that make up the melodies of our otherwise dull lives and reminds us that things are hardly ever as simple as they appear to be... Everyone not only has a story, but it's a story that almost no one will ever hear in its entirety. In this alone makes the film worth seeing, it is a brilliantly crafted character study that deserves every bit of praise it gets despite the fact that pieces of the ambiance from time to time may pull you out of the film. If you're looking for something that is off the beaten path, we don't think you can go wrong with this film.