Bad Times at the El Royale

Bad Times at the El Royale
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Drew Goddard
Produced by	Drew Goddard Jeremy Latcham
Written by	Drew Goddard
Starring	Jeff Bridges Cynthia Erivo Dakota Johnson Jon Hamm Cailee Spaeny Lewis Pullman Chris Hemsworth
Music by	Michael Giacchino
Cinematography	Seamus McGarvey
Edited by	Lisa Lassek
Production company	Goddard Textiles
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	September 27, 2018 (2018-09-27) (Fantastic Fest) October 12, 2018 (2018-10-12) (United States)
Running time	141 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$32 million[2]
Box office	$11.3 million[2]

Bad Times at the El Royale is a 2018 American neo-noir thriller film written, produced and directed by Drew Goddard. The film stars Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm, Cailee Spaeny, Lewis Pullman, Nick Offerman and Chris Hemsworth. Set in 1969, the plot follows seven strangers who each are hiding dark secrets that come to a head on one night in a shady hotel on the California-Nevada border.^[3]

Bad Times at the El Royale premiered at Fantastic Fest on September 27, 2018, and was released in the United States on October 12, 2018.^[4] The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with specific praise for Bridges', Ervio's, and Hemsworth's performance, although the 141 minute runtime drew some criticism.^[5] It has grossed $11.3 million worldwide.^[2]

Plot

In 1959, a man arrives at the El Royale hotel to bury a bag of money under the floor of one of the rooms. Unfortunately, he is shot dead by another man who searches the room, but cannot find the money.

Ten years later, Catholic priest Daniel Flynn and African-American soul singer Darlene Sweet arrive at the El Royale. While waiting in the hotel lobby, they meet smooth-talking vacuum salesman Seymour Sullivan as well as the El Royale's only worker, Miles Miller. A woman named Emily Summerspring also arrives at the hotel while the group are picking their rooms. Sullivan takes Room 1, Flynn takes Room 4 and Sweet takes Room 5 while Summerspring picks Room 7.

Upon entering the honeymoon suite, Sullivan finds and removes several bugs from the room, only to discover a second set of bugs planted around the room and realizes that the dresser mirror is affixed to the wall. Upon searching, he discovers a hidden passage behind the rooms. The mirrors have one-way glass, and a movie camera is set up to film the guests' rooms.

Sullivan sees that Flynn is tearing open the floorboards in his room, Sweet is attempting to sing in solace, and Summerspring is holding a kidnapped woman hostage in her room. Sullivan himself is actually an FBI agent named Dwight Broadbeck, sent by the bureau to investigate the hotel. His superiors instruct him to retrieve any film that may contain footage of their operation, but not to interfere with the kidnapping. Broadbeck sabotages the group's vehicles, and against orders, he confronts Summerspring, and attempts to rescue the girl, who is revealed to be Summerspring's younger sister Rose.

Meanwhile, Flynn invites Sweet to join him for dinner. Unable to find Miles, they help themselves to a meal and chat. Flynn reveals he has memory problems and Sweet reveals that she is on her way to Reno for a singing job. Sweet sees Flynn attempting to drug her drink and knocks him unconscious with a wine bottle. Miles finds Flynn and inadvertently reveals to him about the film and the passageway. Miles explains that "management" tells him to film the guests and send footage to them but he decided to hold back one particularly incriminating film.

While investigating the passageways with Flynn, Miles is injured by Summerspring through the mirror, who has opened fire and killed Broadbeck. Sweet, who has witnessed the murder, attempts to escape, but Flynn enters it. He reveals that he is not actually a priest, but a bank robber. Flynn's real name is Dock O'Kelly, who was arrested after a botched robbery; his brother, Felix, was the man who hid the money in the hotel and was killed by an accomplice. Recently freed, he has returned to the hotel under the guise of a priest to retrieve the money his brother left. However his memory problems caused him to forget which room the money was in and he has now deduced that the money is actually in Sweet's, and attempted to drug her to get into her room.

In the lobby, Summerspring and Rose take Miles and tie him up, forcing him to reveal information about the hotel. It is revealed that Rose and Emily were in a cult, led by the charismatic and vicious Billy Lee. Summerspring was attempting to escape, and took Rose with her. However, Rose reveals to Emily that he revealed to Lee the location of the hotel, and he is arriving with his cultists. O'Kelly and Sweet work together, distracting Summerspring long enough to get the money. As they attempt to leave with the money, Billy Lee and his cultists arrive to hold them hostage along with Summerspring and Miles. Rose is actually Lee's accomplice and resents her sister's "rescue".

He interrogates the group about what has been happening, learning of the money and the film. Lee realizes that the film is worth much more than the money, as it can be used to blackmail the people who were filmed. Lee terrorizes the hostages, and shows his ruthlessness by killing Summerspring. Using a power outage to his advantage, O'Kelly attacks Lee, setting the hotel ablaze in the process. Miles reveals to Sweet that he is a former soldier who served in Vietnam. At Sweet's insistence, he picks up a gun and kills Lee and the other cultists, only to be stabbed by a furious Rose. O'Kelly shoots and kills Rose but Miles, still traumatized and racked with guilt over his actions in Vietnam, begs O'Kelly to absolve him of his sins, which he does. Miles bleeds to death as O'Kelly and Sweet retrieve the money. Grabbing the film, and looking at each other, they toss it in the fire before fleeing the hotel.

Not long after, O'Kelly attends Sweet's show in Reno. The pair share a knowing look before Sweet performs for the crowd as O'Kelly proudly looks on.

Cast

Production

On March 8, 2017, it was announced that 20th Century Fox had bought the spec script Bad Times at the El Royale, written by Drew Goddard, who would also direct and produce the film.^[6] On August 23, 2017, Chris Hemsworth and Jeff Bridges had been cast in the 1960s-set film to play two among the several characters who collide at the El Royale near Nevada's Lake Tahoe.^[7] That same day, it was also reported that Tom Holland had passed on a role, and that Beyoncé was being courted for the role of an African-American vocalist. It was also revealed that other main roles in the ensemble would include a vacuum cleaner salesman, two female criminals, a male cult leader, and a desk clerk.^[8] Later in August 2017, newcomer Cailee Spaeny was added to the cast to play an impressionable Southern girl hiding out at the hotel^[9] while Cynthia Erivo was cast in the film for the role of the African-American singer who finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time.^[10] In January 2018, Dakota Johnson and Russell Crowe joined the cast.^[11] In February 2018, Jon Hamm (replacing Crowe), Nick Offerman and Mark O'Brien joined the cast.^[12][13][14] In May 2018, Lewis Pullman was confirmed for a role in the film.^[15]

Principal photography on the film began on January 29, 2018 in Vancouver, British Columbia, and later in February, it was being shot in Burnaby.^[16][17]

Release

The first trailer was released on June 7, 2018.^[18] The film had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest on September 27, 2018 and also screened at the San Sebastián International Film Festival.^[19][20] It was released in the United States on October 12, 2018.

Reception

See also

• Looking Glass
• Vacancy

References

External links

• Bad Times at the El Royale on IMDb