Bad Times at the El Royale

Name: Bad Times at the El Royale
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Horror, Crime
Released: October 12, 2018
Duration: 141 min
Rating: 60
Cast: Alvina August, Bethany Brown, Cailee Spaeny, Chris Hemsworth, Cynthia Erivo

2018

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 43 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 293 Ratings

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7.2

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7.2	Your Score
7.2	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 293 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Twentieth Century Fox | Release Date: October 12, 2018 | R

Starring: Alvina August, Bethany Brown, Cailee Spaeny, Chris Hemsworth, Cynthia Erivo, Dakota Johnson, Jeff Bridges, Jim O'Heir, Jon Hamm, Jonathan Whitesell, Katharine Isabelle, Lewis Pullman, Manny Jacinto, Mark O'Brien, Nick Offerman, Sarah Smyth, Shea Whigham, Xavier Dolan

Summary: Seven strangers, each with a secret to bury, meet at Lake Tahoe's El Royale, a rundown hotel with a dark past. Over the course of one fateful night, everyone will have a last shot at redemption... before everything goes to hell.

Director: Drew Goddard

Genre(s): Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Horror, Crime

Rating: R

Runtime: 141 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Bobby LePire

Oct 20, 2018

Bad Times At The El Royale is creepy and mysterious in all the right ways. The tension builds as the non-sequential story allows the pieces to fall into place in mesmerizing fashion. Read full review

IndieWire David Ehrlich

Sep 27, 2018

The more that Goddard upends our assumptions about who’s good, who’s bad, and who’s going to live through the night, the more we realize that we’re rooting for all of these fucked-up people to get right with the world. It’s massively didactic, but in a way that encourages us to dwell on how we feel about these characters, and how malleable those feelings are. Read full review

Leah Greenblatt

Oct 10, 2018

It’s British stage actress Erivo who feels like the real star. Her steely charisma and gorgeous powerhouse of a voice (Goddard takes every plausible opportunity to let her loose on a classic 1960s songbook; can you blame him?) is what gives the movie not just a different kind of heroine, but a heart. Read full review

Nick Vadala

Oct 10, 2018

Goddard provides ample space for his star-studded cast to play, often to great effect, thanks mostly to lesser-known stars like Erivo and Pullman. The production design is similarly engrossing, with the El Royale's endless corridors and secrets making it as much a character in the movie as any of its human players. Read full review

Manohla Dargis

Oct 11, 2018

Goddard keeps everything smoothly, ebbing and flowing as the characters separate and join together, but at some point during this logy 2-hour-and-21-minute exercise you want something more substantial than even Hemsworth’s admittedly mesmerizing snaky hips. Read full review

Richard Lawson

Oct 13, 2018

I remain as curious as ever to see what Goddard does next. But this film, for all its canny presentation, is a mishmash of compelling narrative premises clumsily fused together. It manages to be both overwrought and under-developed, disappointing less for what it is than for what it could have been. Read full review

Movie Nation Roger Moore

Oct 1, 2018

Ponderously telling some parts of its sketch-of-a-story from multiple points of view, it’s an excruciating exercise in self-indulgence, packed with flashbacks and those big speeches/big scenes that draw names like Oscar winner Jeff Bridges, Dakota Johnson and Jon Hamm to its cast. It adds up to nothing more than two hours and 21 minutes of tedium, with the odd spasm of violence, back-story or musical interlude. Read full review

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User Reviews

Fb29

Oct 15, 2018

I'll echo another reviewer, this is a crafted movie. The acting is superb. Great cinematography. The plot moves. What a treat that Cynthia Erivo sings in the movie, she has to be the best voice on earth right now. The soundtrack for this movie was outstanding. I plan to see it again inI'll echo another reviewer, this is a crafted movie. The acting is superb. Great cinematography. The plot moves. What a treat that Cynthia Erivo sings in the movie, she has to be the best voice on earth right now. The soundtrack for this movie was outstanding. I plan to see it again in theaters, partly for the soundtrack and that Jon Hamm monologue, but mostly to be able to enjoy the movie while also remembering to breathe.… Expand

6 of 10 users found this helpful64

DawdlingPoet

Nov 20, 2021

If you've seen this film, you'll realise that the title is a bit of an understatement(!). Its a dark and, by the end quite gripping, multi-layered thriller/drama film and it reminded me of the film Vantage Point. Every character has a background that we learn about as the plot unfolds. TheIf you've seen this film, you'll realise that the title is a bit of an understatement(!). Its a dark and, by the end quite gripping, multi-layered thriller/drama film and it reminded me of the film Vantage Point. Every character has a background that we learn about as the plot unfolds. The setting is at times quite stylish - I thought there had been strong attention to detail, with some rooms/areas featuring bright colours. Also, I enjoyed Darlene's soulful singing. I thought it was quite engrossing and so I'd recommend it - it is a bit gritty but it's not what I'd regard as unnecessarily bloodily violent. However, if you are especially squeamish then you may want to stay away from this I suppose but for a 15 rated film (in the UK), its not one of the most visually upsetting or gory films I've seen, personally.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Davrosdaleks1

Oct 12, 2018

Drew Goddard has done it again bringing an entertaining Tarantinoesque noir/suspense film.

This is a really well executed. Goddard does a great job of leading the viewer. There are some impressive visual shots in this, including one big reveal near the beginning that kept me captivated forDrew Goddard has done it again bringing an entertaining Tarantinoesque noir/suspense film.

This is a really well executed. Goddard does a great job of leading the viewer. There are some impressive visual shots in this, including one big reveal near the beginning that kept me captivated for every second. No lodger is who they initially appear to be and the script does a great job of jumping backward and forward in time as information is revealed little by little. Excellent cast all across the board. Dialogue is pretty slick and funny at points. Though the standout of the film may be the actual El Royale hotel itself. All credit should be given to the designers. It is a perfectly orchestrated distillation of sixties nostalgia. (I didn't even know there was a time when hotels could have a main building with a room or rooms, and adjoining motel units. Neat.) There are only a few people there because its the off-season and the hotel's popularity had declined. The brightness and cleanliness of the place also offers an unsettling coldness when contrasted with the lack of life.

Admittedly the third act isn't quite as strong as the first two. It is a solid finale but once most of the reveals happen it gets easier to predict how things will transpire. Also, the movie excels in its execution but once once its all said and done the film is a mash-up of similar elements from several modern crime/thriller/noir films.

This is one of those films where I don't know if you need to watch it at full price in the theater, but I do highly recommend that you catch it at some point.… Expand

3 of 6 users found this helpful33

eagleeyeviking

Dec 28, 2018

With violent surprises, beautiful cinematography, and stellar acting, "Bad Times at the El Royale" is a supremely satisfying original from director Drew Goddard.

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

azzabar

Oct 17, 2018

Not bad, not great. It was pretty good. We liked it. Good acting, Chris Hemsworth is always easy on the eyes and what a part he played.

1 of 4 users found this helpful13

whoischarlotte

Oct 23, 2018

Not enough Jon Hamm. This film means well and could have been really great but scene were very hit and miss.

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

MaxPayneIsGod

Feb 13, 2019

Absolute trash.
How they could butcher a movie this badly with this cast is beyond me.
I knew nothing about this movie before I watched it. It is 101 lesson on how to waste talent. Its a poor man's Hateful Eight or Identity. Bad Times is horrifically bad and a huge waste of the viewersAbsolute trash.
How they could butcher a movie this badly with this cast is beyond me.
I knew nothing about this movie before I watched it.
It is 101 lesson on how to waste talent.
Its a poor man's Hateful Eight or Identity.
Bad Times is horrifically bad and a huge waste of the viewers time.
I spent the whole movie waiting for something good to happen.
Hated it, absolutely hated it.… Expand

2 of 7 users found this helpful25

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50	#50 Most Discussed Movie of 2018
72	#72 Most Shared Movie of 2018