Review: Bad Times at the El Royale

The release of Bad Times at the El Royale has gone somewhat under the radar in comparison to other films in the run up to this awards season. Aside from my awareness of some marketing geared towards the genre of mystery thriller/film noir, I really didn’t know what to expect from Drew Goddard’s latest endeavour in his capacity as writer, producer, and director. With this being the case, I went in with an open mind.

The opening scene is promising. We witness the suspicious, yet satisfyingly meticulous, murder of Felix (Nick Offerman), raising a series of questions that the viewer desperately wants to be answered. At this point, I was still very much on board.

The film continues ten years later at which point we are gradually introduced to the group of strangers as they enter the hotel.  Most of the characters’ entrances and introductions were engaging, mostly evident in the slightly uneasy repartee between Father Flynn (Jeff Bridges), Darlene Sweet (Cynthia Erivo), and Laramie Sullivan (Jon Hamm). The efficacy of the ensemble cast is brought to an abrupt holt however, by the arrival of Dakota Johnson, who decided, halfway through the film, that her character needed an Alabamian accent.

The hotel setting enabled a niche narrative framework by developing the story episodically; each of the occupied hotel rooms were used as markers to develop characters through flashbacks and real-time moments. These episodes raised yet more questions and as they continued, it was becoming clear they weren’t being answered. There was some level of satisfaction, however, when these episodes crossed over and we were able to see the same moment from different character’s perspectives.

The flashbacks within each episode ultimately failed to fulfill the function of exploring character backstories and motivations. An exception to this rule was Darlene Sweet, whose heart rendering renditions of Motown classics also served to punctuate the story and were arguably the only marker of any originality. Her voice is paramount in the execution of the most engaging scene in which Father Flynn is pulling up floorboards to find the money left by his brother, Felix, a decade ago.

On the plus side, I was genuinely excited to see what each hotel room looked like at the beginning of each episode. The film is strong from an aesthetic perspective and relies quite heavily on the pleasing visual stimuli of the 1960s in the décor of the El Royale Hotel. The in-depth detail I could relay about the hotel’s décor is quite indicative of the fact that this thriller didn’t have me on the edge of my seat.

Whilst I was entertained at various points throughout the film, I was not sold. There is ample mystery, but it’s never explained; questions are raised, but never answered. This lack of resolution makes for a dissatisfying end and an ultimately underwhelming story that not even the shameless inclusion of a shirtless Chris Hemsworth could appease.

Rating: 2.5/5