Bad Times at the El Royale

Love the cast, love the storyline and love the initial direction of Bad Times at the El Royale but with such a loaded backstory of multiple characters culminating together you can’t just light the fuse, you have to make sure it pops off at the end.

The film is shot wonderfully, especially in the initially setup with long tracking shots and long takes that make you feel like you’re about to enter the Overlook hotel.

And like the timing of The Shinning this film takes place in the 70s, instead in this case it’s the El Royale, a novelty hotel that straddles the California/Nevada border and offers its customers a taste of both states at the same time.

As for the guests, Father Flynn (Jeff Bridges), Laramie Sullivan (John Hamm) and Emily Summerspring (Dakota Johnson) to name a few, all serendipitously land on this hotel for various reasons for the night.

Both Hamn and Bridges are exceptional, bringing their charm and acting chops to whatever role they come into but they also make room for newcomer Darlene Sweet (Cynthia Ervio), a failed, black backup singer who’s seen better days, making her way to Reno, Nevada for a new life of lounge singing at the Keno at 6pm.

However, once all these characters come together we’re treated to a Quentin Tarantino type of introduction to them all from director Drew Goddard (Cabin in the Woods), as with each room taken by these guest, their backstories delightfully unfold as we glean more and more information from our potential heroes and villains and their motives for being there.

A Vacuum salesman, a priest, a fugitive traveler with a kidnapped body in her trunk. These people have their reasons and on this chance night we get to see how it unfolds with a backdrop of Billy Lee (Chris Hemsworth), a psychopathic cult leader heading up to Tahoe to meet the gang and retrieve his kidnapped property.

Billy Lee’s entrance into this story is dramatic and entertaining as indeed the author gives him is own developing chapter, however, he hits with an initial gut punch and drags us on whimpering for the next 30 minutes to a finale unsatisfying and predictable.

The backstories are all great, as well as getting to know these characters and who they really are, however, as stated in the into you have this great boiling pot of intrigue and thrills, only to see it settle into a lukewarm bathtub at the end.

Bland, predictable and boring. The stay is good for one night but I’d advise an early checkout from this flick.