BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE

If Goddard had simply made an Agatha Christie-style mystery about a group of strangers in a hotel together, it probably would have been a satisfying piece of entertainment. With ‘El Royale’ though, he goes for something more ambitious, a kind of distillation of one of the most fascinating years in American history, a point-of-no-return that would resonate for decades to come. The El Royale becomes a microcosm for America itself, its inhabitants separated by cultural, generational and idealistic divides. One of the shocks of the film is how violent and unforgiving it is, and how easily that violence is dealt out by its characters. Each must survive at all cost, and the lengths each is willing to go to, their willingness to sacrifice their humanity to achieve it, leaves the others terrified and desperate. ‘El Royale’ feels so much bigger than its wonderfully self-contained concept, the sense that you’re watching a riddle about the nature of history and culture itself, and the joy of revisiting it, aware of where the many narrative threads are headed, makes it even more satisfying the second time around.

It also helps that it’s just a damn good film. Goddard’s script sparkles, but his direction is often wonderfully inspired, held together by a series of extraordinary set pieces that demonstrate a keen and inventive understanding of cinematic storytelling. He often takes his time, allowing characters the space to breathe and grow, and where others would have faltered and allowed the film to feel flabby, his ability to hold the tension and how he constructs the narrative building on cliffhanging revelations keeps the film together beautifully. It’s also a sign of the strength of the project at just how impressive a cast he is able to assemble, featuring Jon Hamm, Dakota Johnson, Lewis Pullman, Chris Hemsworth and Nick Offerman. The heart of the film though are the performances from Jeff Bridges as Father Daniel Flynn and the electrifying Cynthia Erivo as singer Darlene Sweet, who end up becoming the soul and moral compass of the film.

‘Bad Times at the El Royale’ is a special kind of film, one that manages to hold you on the edge of your seat and be wildly thematically ambitious all at once. Drew Goddard’s film shows how all parts of a society are connected, how politics and popular culture, race and class, young and old, conservatism and counter-culture form a vast web where each of influenced by the other, whether they know it or not. It captures the spirit of a time in unexpected ways, less about its killer soundtrack and amazing 60s look and more in its tone, its unsettled energy, its unexpected eruptions of violence. ‘El Royale’ really was one of the unexpected gems of 2018, and I suspect it’s a film we’re going to be talking about for many, many years to come.

PICTURE & SOUND
‘El Royale’ was shot my cinematographer Seamus McGarvey on 35mm film, and that very specific texture translates beautifully in the 2160p 2.39:1 transfer, taken directly from a 4K DI. There’s a diffused, subtle look to the transfer (surprisingly more so than the 1080p Blu-ray included), and while the colour and clarity doesn’t make it a reference quality presentation, I suspect that may have more to do with Goddard and McGarvey’s intentions. The 4K resolution really celebrates the film grain structure, giving the film a really tactile texture. The disc also includes a Dolby Atmos 7.1 track that again isn’t exactly a showoff, but features beautiful sonic detail. The film was finished in Atmos, so it’s great to hear the artistic decisions replicated here so beautifully. The 1080p Blu-ray disc included features a DTS-HD MA 7.1 track.

SPECIAL FEATURES
As usual, all the special features are found on the included Blu-ray only and while there’s not a lot on offer with ‘El Royale’, there’s one feature is worth checking out. ‘Making Bad Times at the El Royale’ (28:35) is a surprisingly thorough affair for a standard making-of piece, though it’s more interested in the technical side of the film as opposed to the thematic. It’s a pity there isn’t a commentary included, as it would have been wonderful to hear Goddard break down the film and his intentions. Otherwise, there’s an image gallery, and the teaser (2:05) and trailer (2:03).