Today’s quick review: Bad Times at the El Royale. Trouble looms when a struggling singer (Cynthia Erivo), an amiable priest (Jeff Bridges), a traveling salesman (Jon Hamm), and a temperamental hippie (Dakota Johnson) cross paths at the El Royale, a deserted hotel straddling the border between California and Nevada. As the night wears on, the guests discover that everyone there is harboring secrets, including the hotel’s nervous clerk (Lewis Pullman).
Bad Times at the El Royale is a crime thriller with an ensemble cast and a plot packed with mystery. The movie follows the interlocking stories of a group of strangers staying at a hotel where nothing is as it seems. Bad Times at the El Royale has thoughtful direction, deliberate pacing, a capable cast, a well-used soundtrack, and a bevy of interesting plot threads. These elements give the movie all it needs to be a tense, engrossing watch.
Bad Times at the El Royale uses its impressive cast as the foundation of its story. Each character has a distinct personality, human foibles, and a fascinating back story with a few open-ended questions to keep the audience guessing. Nearly everyone in the cast turns in a strong performance, from Cynthia Erivo’s vocal talents and tenacity to Jeff Bridges’ mix of friendliness and shadiness to the dark charisma of late arrival Chris Hemsworth.
The story plays out as a series of mysteries. Some of the guests have ulterior motives for staying at the El Royale, while the hotel itself hides a darker side behind all its faded glamor. The movie spider-walks between the guests, delivering morsels of back story, teasing at revelations yet to come, and moving on. What’s more, the characters’ actions have real consequences for themselves and those around them, helping to keep the stakes high.
How these plot threads come together is the one area that may not satisfy all potential fans of the film. The mysteries all start strong and their revelations are all credible. But the movie does not explore every question to its fullest, and not every mystery matters at the end of the film. The payoff is still worth the wait, but it’s a staggered sort of payoff, not the single climactic revelation that some viewers may be expecting.
Try Bad Times at the El Royale when you’re in the mood for a dark, well-crafted mystery. Its believable characters, intriguing mysteries, and keen sense of tension are enough to make it a strong pick for those interested in such things. For a darker thriller set at a hotel, try Identity. For a shorter, more action-oriented movie with a similar premise, check out Hotel Artemis. For a black crime comedy with an ensemble cast, check out Seven Psychopaths.
7.5 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it the same for strong execution on an interesting premise.