Bad Times at the El Royale (2018)
“You spend your life getting shook you learn how to spot a shaker.” – Darlene Sweet.
Bad Times at the El Royale (2018)
Directed by: Drew Goddard
Written by: Drew Goddard
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm, Chris Hemsworth
I remember going to see this in theatres back in 2018, and thinking “Good, but long.” It seems that audiences thought the same, as the much-hyped mystery-thriller was a box-office bomb, grossing only $31 million against a $32 million budget. And honestly? This deserved better.
The film follows six strangers who arrive at the El Royale, a hotel along the California-Nevada border, and are greeted by a single employee. What starts as a quiet single-night stay soon turns into a fight for survival, as none of the residents are quite what they seem.
Let’s start with the length. At 2 hours and 22 minutes, this is a slog. It’s dialogue heavy, most scenes feature exchanges between two or three characters, and the ‘exciting action’ you would expect in a thriller doesn’t occur until the third act. Many critics at the time drew parallels with both Tarantino and Kubrik’s stylistic flourishes. As someone who loves Tarantino, maybe that’s one of the reasons I put up with the long run-time, as both the visuals and the lengthy dialogue were really well done. However, I do concede that the middle act of the film drags.
However, apart from the slightly overenthusiastic runtime, I had no complaints. This is one of the more underrated ensemble casts of the last ten years, with both Erivo and Bridges providing fantastic performances, Hemsworth playing a charismatic villain for once, Dakota Johnson doing her best with limited material, and Lewis Pullman truly dominating his scenes as the hapless hotelier Miles. And Jon Hamm….well, I’ll love anything with Jon Hamm.
Any good thriller knows how to insert you into the story so that you feel the fear, suspense, and excitement along with the characters. Bad Times narrative structure helps facilitate this, with a long introductory sequence that introduces you to all the characters as they arrive at the hotel, and then individual ‘chapters’ that expand on this initial contextualisation.
The true ‘meaning’ of the film has been debated at length. While the ideas of faith, religion, and racial persecution are clearly prevalent within the film, I’d say it’s mostly an exploration into power, and how power is both gained and lost. Characters within the film are either following orders, are slaves to an existing power structure, or are having to relinquish some of their power to survive. Sounds interesting, right?
In summary, I put this on the same tier as some of Tarantino’s worst movies. The dialogue is well written and intellectual, the acting is superb, it’s trying to make a point, and the visuals are fun to look at. But it’s still 144 minutes long, the second half of the film can feel a bit pedestrian in parts, and the climax doesn’t exactly meet expectations. But you should all still watch it. Highly recommend.
Rating: 7.5/10