Bad Times at the El Royale (2018)

I should've written this entry when this was still "fresh" for me = around two weeks ago = what I was afraid of - that my memory will start failing me - it's happening... and still "Bad Times at the El Royale" it's not a movie to forget. You can love it, or hate it, but completely forgettable.. not really.

El Royale - a motel with a firm that's more pretentious than the looks of it - it's an almost deserted establishment on the border of the states of California and Nevada. Literally. The California rooms are slightly more expensive at one extra dollar. The Nevada rooms, however, seem more attractive, but for other reasons than the price. Or at least that's what could conclude the only active employee, Miles Miller, the reception boy, when he suddenly finds 4 guests in the lobby. A catholic priest, a soul/jazz singer, a traveling salesman, and a hippie girl. With one exception, all seem to have a hidden agenda that brought them to the same place, and coincidentally at the same time. Obviously, I won't spoil the exception ;) ... Just that the movie begins with a short sequence, when years ago, an overly stressed guy gets a room, and buries a bag under the wooden floor, but he doesn't live long afterwards... Anyway, that's just one trigger for what comes after ;) There are more.

You might hate this, as I was saying. It's a long movie at its 2.5 hours, in which we also see a consistent part of the intro repeated from the perspective of the different characters. Stuff that might bore you. It wasn't my case. You might also love this, if you have enough patience and you're in the right mood. The subject escalates bit by bit. You don't get it all at once, and this was my catchy factor. It might seem similar in style with Tarantino. I liked it more, however, than "The Hateful Eight", which is probably the first example that might cross your mind given the isolated place and the small bunch that seem to look forward for each others demise. Talking about comparisons, I only found out after watching that's written and directed by Drew Goddard, and I can say in retrospect that you could feel some common elements maybe also with "Cabin in the Woods", starting with the fact that we find out pretty quick that all the rooms in the motel are under surveillance. But let's not overrate it - "Cabin in the Woods" it's still a bit above what we have here :) although, given the "surprise character" revealed towards the end, these to movies are getting closer ;)

Rating: 4 out of 5