IN THEATRES: Bad Times at the El Royale

In 1969, a group of strangers arrive at a hotel on the border between California and Nevada. Only one of them is who they say they are.

As a storm closes in, secrets are revealed and bodies start dropping...

There are a lot of things to like about Bad Times at the El Royale. The structure is an ensemble thriller, a pressure cooker about a group of strangers stuck in a specific location. That conceit is always fun, and allows for some interesting character dynamics and mounting tension.

Like Mandy, Bad Times at the El Royale is a genre flick operating in a specific cultural context. Set at the end of the sixties, it feels like the end of the road - the El Royale is falling apart, and the people staying there are all running out of time.

It’s a story about people who have lost, but are still pursuing their passion: Jeff Bridges is an ex-con hunting for the haul from his last job, hidden in one of the rooms. He is losing his memory but is determined to get his reward. Meanwhile, Cynthia Erivo is a failed session singer heading to a gig as a lounge singer.

When the movie is based around Bridges and Erivo, there is a weight and tension to the movie that is otherwise lacking. Since this movie is an ensemble piece it lives and dies on its group dynamic, and not all of the pieces are that interesting.

We have an FBI agent (Jon Hamm) on a case stumbling into something bigger; a young woman (Dakota Johnson) who has kidnapped her sister (Cailee Spaeny); and finally there is the shifty concierge (Lewis Pullman), who is haunted by his own demons. All are interesting, but they never really become more than that.

This movie is stylish and contains a number of good twists and tense sequences. The soundtrack is awesome - if you love late 60s pop and soul, you’ll like this. But despite its qualities I left feeling strangely un-moved by it all.

All the acting is solid (Bridges and Erivo are really good as the ostensible 'leads'), I had a trouble caring about anyone's story. 

It does not help that the movie has an antagonist - a Manson-ish cult leader played by Chris Hemsworth - who never really clicks. I feel like a movie like this needs a big, epic finish to really sell me, and this one did not quite work, largely because Hemsworth doesn't.

This movie crystallised what Hemsworth’s strengths as an actor are. When I think of the performances that work, they are characters who either lack status or think they have status (Thor, Ghostbusters or even Rush's cocky James Hunt). In the role of a charismatic cult leader, Hemsworth feels like fraud. There is a key moment where he is revealed as a conman playing on the weaknesses of others. That moment does not work because Hemsworth feels like a fraud from the outset.

In the end, Bad Times at the El Royale feels a little bit less than the sum of its parts. This is a fun genre exercise, but nothing more.