‘BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE’ Review

Bad Times at the El Royale is a complex movie, but the way it unfolds and the secrets it relinquishes are so perfectly achieved that it ends up feeling effortless. 1960-something: the main story begins as a number of individuals show up at a hotel called The El Royale, a unique location built with half of the building on the side of Nevada and the other half California. The hotel is…well, empty, and run by a single employee, Miles (Lewis Pullman) after the building lost their gambling license. The rooms are divided amongst the patrons, and our story begins to unfold.

Room 1: Laramie Seymour Sullivan (Jon Hamm) is a “vacuum salesman” with a fairly serious agenda. He begins to uncover at least 20 audio bugs in his room. Through this, he also discovers a secret hallway that have windows into each room in the guise of a two-way mirror. Audio through all the bugs can be pumped through a speaker in the hallway. A tri-pod with a camera is set up in front of one of the vacancies. He also discovers a crime.

Room 4: Father Daniel Flynn (Jeff Bridges) is a “priest” removing floor boards in order to get to a hidden stash of money left by his brother (Nick Offerman) after an armored truck heist. Problem being? He can’t remember the room number.

Room 5: Darlene (Cynthia Erivo) is a wise back-up singer trying to make it on her own, and practicing for a show in Reno tomorrow night. Her voice is wonderful. She’s sweet, but not easily deceived.

Room 7: Emily (Dakota Johnson) and her sister Rose (Cailee Spaeny) are in this room. One is there a little less voluntarily than the other, having been taken away from a Charles Manson-esque figure named Billy Lee (Chris Hemsworth) and his community. She contacts him and notifies of their location. Billy Lee is a very dangerous man.

Goddard’s proven himself as a writer numerous times over, but everything about this movie proves handily that his previous swing at directing, his debut Cabin in the Woods, was anything but a fluke. The look and feel of the movie is palpable to the point where I feel like I can smell the lobby. Framing is often precise and pointed, and camera angles and movement are perfection. Lighting from the ambiance and the neon signs have a warm glow that is pointedly in contrast to what’s going on under the surface, rain looks piercing, and literally becomes a hell when the movie goes…there. Violence is shocking and packs a big impact, every single time, which is difficult to achieve. On the writing side things are very deliberately paced and placed to deliver the reward for your patience. Characters all have a purpose, whether you realize it immediately or not. Threads all come together, even if I hadn’t put it together until days later now, thinking back. It’s just my type of film making on every level; it’s a movie that is instantly gratifying and satisfying, and it reveals even more appreciative attributes after the fact.

That includes on the acting front, where the entire cast gets at least one moment to truly shine, and two relative unknowns steal almost the whole show. First is Cynthia Erivo, who I’ve heard also makes quite an impression in Steve McQueen’s Widows (in theaters November 16th). Her character appears to be the one caught in the middle of everything, but her purpose is way more than meets the eye. Her performance is fantastic – she’s a STAR – and every time she sings, it’s magic. Next is Lewis Pullman, son of actor Bill, who you will catch glimpses of mannerisms and speech patterns that link them even if the resemblance isn’t immediate. His most major role to this point was in The Strangers: Prey at Night, of which he was a highlight. In a way I’d liken his character here to Tim Roth’s bellboy in Four Rooms, except Miles isn’t the one trying to hold together everything in the hotel…he’s trying to hold everything together in HIMSELF. He is magnetic and his meekness gives way to a lot of depth, especially in his eyes. Pullman is a terrific actor. Then there’s Jeff Bridges, who has wonderful chemistry with Erivo, and he has a few scenes that I really found moving. Finally there’s Chris Hemsworth, whose character is more of an enigma of chaos than a man, and he steals every moment he and his perfect abs are on screen. He’s seen once early on, and his presence looms as we await his inevitable return. It doesn’t disappoint.

Multi-layered, ensemble crime films aren’t anything new, but not since Pulp Fiction has a film of this breed come along and floored me quite like Drew Goddard’s Bad Times at the El Royale. Four of my favorite performances of the year are packed in here, which is absurdly rare, and the rest of the cast is almost just as impressive. My favorite film of 2018, so far, and I can’t wait to see it again.

Bad Times at the El Royale is in theaters today!