Bad Times at the El Royale

A Tarantino flick without Tarantino. Whereas in his previous film, The Cabin in the Woods, Drew Goddard uniquely juggled the clichés of the horror genre, in Bad Times at the El Royale he only clumsily tries to cook something up from the ingredients of gangster movies and the diversity of characters placed in a precarious situation. But the problem lies in those characters. The definition of the two antagonistic characters (the girls) is weak and their random inclusion in the main storyline (Jeff Bridges looking for something) comes across as superficial. And the film’s least effective and worst-cast character is the one played by Chris Hemsworth, who should have instead kicked the film’s climax up a notch. The film also fails to properly exploit the potential of the “in the wrong place at the wrong time” motif. The intermingling of timeframes is not cleverly developed and the pace is needlessly slow in places, relying on dialogue that lacks refinement. However, Jeff Bridges gets the job done, Dakota is better suited to the role of a bitch than that of the dainty lady in Fifty Shades of Grey, and the young supporting actor Lewis Pullman ends up making the most sense of all. (05/12/2022)

A strange mosaic of human destinies that meet in a hotel on the border between California and Nevada. It’s a bit like Goddard wanted to make a Tarantino movie, but he lacks the light hand and sense of humor. But still this is a decent and mainly clever, original watch; you don’t often see this sort of thing these days. (10/08/2019)

I’m not saying I’m jumping in joy, but this retro stuff hit the spot of my mood and my tastes. If I had the skills to write and direct in Hollywood, stories with unpredictable characters and set in a small, often symbolic places like this would probably be the kind I’d be interested in the most; also thanks to the soundtrack, with which in this case Goddard checks all the boxes to build a period backdrop that is impossible not to love. It’s true that the script relies mostly on effect, that it lays down the cards too early and that you won’t find many memorable lines, but it’s still an adorably extravagant piece of filmmaking that, thanks to well timed explanatory flashbacks, has no trouble holding the attention of the viewer and keeping the tension about which of the interestingly written characters will come out with their head still on its place. The hotel itself is great, the actors are precise and it’s amazing how Goddard manages to defame the morals of America with only a handful of characters, a mysterious place and an even more mysterious filmstrip (though it’s not too hard to figure out which overseas idol committed the atrocities captured in it). It could certainly be more genre subversive and the escalation in the first half could be better, but I’m satisfied regardless. 75% (17/10/2018)

I would give it 5 stars and would possibly be raving about the return to the dark 90s and how this is the best film of 2018 if it weren’t for some particular moments of the screenplay. This way the movie “only” qualifies for a pretty good genre film which reminds me of the best gangster movies of the 1990s put into a rainy, Seven-like feel. Have you noticed how the rain plays an important role in the atmosphere of similar films? It’s a pity I didn’t have the chance to experience a downpour comparable to the one in the movie in real life this year. Films are soon going to be the only thing reminding me of what rain even is. Anyway, from a film-making point of view Bad Times at The El Royale is a real smash. The closed setting of the hotel sometimes made me feel like I was watching an adaptation of some Agatha Christie detective novel. The well-written characters and dialogues then reminded me of Tarantino. Only here they fortunately didn't launch into endless discussions about nothing and most of the two and a half hours was pure action. All acting performances were brilliant but you gotta applaud Jeff Bridges in particular. (31/12/2018)

Several people arrive at a small hotel in the middle of nowhere. They have nothing in common at first glance, but in a few hours most of them will be dead, and the rest will be really upset. Drew Goddard directs a smart film in the style of Tarantino with interesting characters, good actors and fun direction. It does run out of breath a bit towards the end, but overall it manages to entertain quite nicely thanks to the ideas, the characters and a few rough twists. It probably won't be a genre classic like The Cabin in the Woods, though. (12/10/2018)