Bad Times at the El Royale

Bad Times At The El Royale was exceptional. Through its preview period, I was hooked from the teaser trailer to the 24th TV Spot released. Drew Goddard knew how to make a wonderous and exciting thriller through its magnificent casting and so much more. All these trailers set high expectations which made me worry a little bit as I dont like getting myself too excited for movies because sometimes, I get very disappointed. But with this, it exceeded my high expectations. Bad Times At The El Royale just crushed it and it felt riveting the whole time which is something that is hard to find in films nowadays.

The casting was incredibly on point for this with Dakota Johnson, Jeff Bridges, Jon Hamm, Lewis Pullman, Chris Hemsworth, Cailee Spa...

More often than not, the fragmented, time-jump-y form of storytelling (a la Tarantino) doesn't do it for me. But Bad Times at the El Royale nails the format, and just about everything else while it's at it.

Final rating: - Very strong appeal. A personal favourite.

Derivative, predictable, and dull

There is something about hotels that I find very romantic. You get to try on a different life in a hotel. You're usually in a new place when you're staying in a hotel. There's something about the experience that allows you to be a different person. You can think to yourself: "Oh, this is what it would look if I were in Paris. This is what it would look like if I were in New York." There's something about it that transports you somewhere and that, I suppose, has always been good for creativity and imagination. I love the entire spectrum of hotels, b__ecause for a creative person, it's about trying on a new life. For the El Royale, I liked this idea of a hotel that had a shadier side to it.

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Although the first half presents a smart and mysterious blend of, say, The Hateful Eight and Identity, the plot lacks the puzzle pieces to grow towards a grand solution in it's ending.

7/10

Ok, Wow, I don't think I've seen a movie like that since the 90s. Some have gotten close, but this one absolutely stinks of clever 90s independent film...

...at least in that era where studios were putting serious bank behind indie films in an effort to score awards and produce something new that audiences would eat up.

The wow sort of starts with the soundtrack, which is brilliant found music that not only fits the era, but fits the film like a globe.

The casting is perfect, with a special shout out to Cynthia Erivo who sold her role as an R&B singer as if, well, she is one, but the delivery was absolutely brilliant on her end, despite the fact that she is one in real life. I guess it's where basically playing yourself pays off in...

Tarantino-esque flick about one rainy night at a dubious motel in Northern California

In 1969, four strangers spend the night at the El Royale hotel on the border of California & Nevada, near Lake Tahoe. These visitors consist of a priest (Jeff Bridges), a singer (Cynthia Erivo), a vacuum cleaner salesman (Jon Hamm) and an edgy young woman (Dakota Johnson). Theyre going to have an unforgettable night. Lewis Pullman plays the meek manager of the motel that used to be a bustling business while Chris Hemsworth and Cailee Spaeny have key roles.

Bad Times at the El Royale (2018) is a crime thriller that takes the milieu of the Psycho flicks and combines it with the dialogue-driven style of Tarantino. The later The Virtuoso (2021) is ...