First Take: Bad Times at the El Royale- literally the wrong cinema, at the right time

SYNOPSIS:

Seven strangers, each with a secret to bury, meet at Lake Tahoe’s El Royale, a rundown hotel with a dark past. Over the course of one fateful night, everyone will have a last shot at redemption - before everything goes to hell.

Drew Goddard has been attempting to get this film made for many years. Beginning life as one of the industry’s most fiercely sought after spec scripts, Goddard would go on to command the directors chair on his first film as a result- and it’s an almightily fine debut from one of Hollywood’s top screenwriters.

Goddard’s direction is very tight, showing how involved he was creating these characters for our enjoyment, and yes, while the first hour is too full of exposition (alongside a confusing structure for the narrative), by the end of the 2 hour 21 minutes, this film is able to entertain with a very tightly crafted plot, that keeps you guessing about which characters will make it out of the El Royale- reminding me of a certain independent film I seen a few years back. Industry veteran Seamus McGarvey is behind the camera, and once again delivers some shots that are both inventive and very stylised, something which may help him along the road on this awards season run, and providing a radically different (but still pun-filled) score is the almighty Michael Giacchino. There is not much to fault at all with the technical side of things.

And that brings us on to the performances. Holy Batman, this truly is an ensemble piece. Bringing them all together is Jon Hamm, who alongside Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Dakota Johnson, Nick Offerman and Chris Hemsworth, is able to portray a very multi-faceted character that keeps audiences guessing right until the end- and this is testament to Goddard’s writing; this is a very thought provoking film, so make sure you have a cup of Earl Grey handy, as it really does demand your attention, especially during that first hour.

THE VERDICT

With some outstanding cinematography, an incredible cast, some insane production design and a brilliant soundtrack, Bad Times at the El Royale is able to shake a problematic first hour aside to deliver some top quality big screen entertainment. 

RATING: 4/5