Set in the late 1960s, Bad Times at the El Royale tells the story of a disparate group of strangers who come to stay at a once thriving hotel-casino straddling the Nevada-California border. No one is quite what they seem, and secrets are slowly revealed over the course of one tumultuous night.
Writer-director Drew Goddard makes masterfully effective use of flashbacks and scenes replayed from different characters’ points of view to tell a gripping and unexpectedly complex tale. The numerous subplots and character arcs could have easily turned into a jumbled, gimmicky mess, but Goddard maintains tight control and direction throughout. While the story gets complicated, it remains coherent.
Bad Times at the El Royale features a relatively large ensemble cast including Jeff Bridges, Chris Hemsworth, Jon Hamm, Dakota Johnson, Lewis Pullman, Cailee Spaeny, and award-winning stage performer Cynthia Erivo in her first feature film role. All of them give outstanding performances. There’s not a weak link in the bunch. Hemsworth is turning out to be a much better actor than I would have given him credit for a few years ago. Props to Erivo as well. Some actors never quite manage the transition from stage to screen, but she certainly did.
Jeff Bridges, Jon Hamm, and Cynthia Erivo in Bad Times at the El Royale. IMDb.com
The setting very much evokes the era. The décor. The songs. The prices. I remember staying in hotels as a kid in the early 70s that actually did cost $8/night. Everyone paid in cash. Yes, credit cards existed in the late 60s, but they weren’t widely used yet. Some anachronistic details may have slipped in, but I didn’t notice any.
Chris Hemsworth and Cailee Spaeny in Bad Times at the El Royale. IMDb.com
Music plays an important role in this film. Background music from a jukebox in the hotel effectively sets the tone for many of the scenes. Erivo sings several songs, some acapela, and usually in particularly tense scenes. The soundtrack powerfully supports the story without becoming overpowering.
Technically, the film is brilliant. The lighting, camera angles, and camera movements are all expertly executed.
Dakota Johnson in Bad Times at the El Royale. IMDb.com
I can usually see the ending of a movie a mile away, but that wasn’t the case here. Goddard set up multiple plausible paths for the story to take. I was certainly hoping for one particular ending, but a lot of other endings were very possible, and there was no way to tell what was going to happen until the story resolved itself. And I really cared about some of the characters, which was another strong point of Goddard’s film. I love it when I don’t know, or at least have a pretty good idea, what’s going to happen to a character I care about. It creates visceral, gut-level tension. That almost never happens with movies these days. (Upgrade and Perfect Blue were two welcome, recently seen examples, but Perfect Blue is 20 years old.)
Great writing, great directing, great acting, and a great soundtrack combined with technical excellence make Bad Times at the El Royale one of the best movies I’ve seen all year.
Overall rating: 9/10