Bad Times at the El Royale
2018 · Directed by Drew Goddard
Original language: English
- thriller
- mystery
- crime
- drama
The story
Lake Tahoe, 1969. Seven strangers, each one with a secret to bury, meet at El Royale, a decadent motel with a dark past. In the course of a fateful night, everyone will have one last shot at redemption.
What it’s like
Mid-century motel palette: saturated reds and mustard yellows, smoky wood-panelled lobby, Nixon-era sheen on everything. The lighting is warm and theatrical, with pools of lamplight and sudden neon bleeding through rain-streaked windows, while the camera moves in long, deliberate tracking shots that glide down hallways and slip between rooms like a voyeur. Vintage soul and Motown-tinged jukebox tracks sit alongside a restless, sparse score, and the near-silences are broken by hissing tape recordings and the ring of a payphone. Vibe: sly, humid noir with a bruised, paranoid glamour. It suits a late-night watch with the lights low, or a rainy evening when you want something stylish and talky. Pacing is unhurried in its build, then turns sharp and fractured in the final stretch, with chapter-like sections that shift perspective. The tone is wry and suspicious, with threads of grief and guilt running under the gamesmanship, and the arcs follow strangers who are gradually exposed and, in some cases, reach for a second chance. Intensity is significant: several sudden, bloody and brutal violent bursts, some gunfire and gore, strong language, drug use, and a moderate amount of sexual content and nudity. Best for viewers who enjoy ensemble mysteries, stylish suspense and dark humour, not those seeking anything gentle.
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