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Bad Times at the El Royale

2018

Drew Goddard

Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Dakota Johnson, Chris Hemsworth ...

6.5

13,076

Thriller 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.

	Author	Review
United States	Peter Debruge Variety	"A worthwhile watch, even if for most, the script’s payoff isn’t enough to justify the pacing problems."	NEU
United States	Michael O'Sullivan The Washington Post	"A schizoid thing: terribly, terribly entertaining, and at times just a wee bit soulless."	POS
United States	David Ehrlich IndieWire	"A piece of major studio entertainment so patient, artful, and thrilling that it might as well be a time machine to the mid-'90s."	POS
United States	Peter Travers Rolling Stone	"[It] could have been creepier, wittier, sharper in its construction and packed with bombshell revelations that would have made its payoff actually pay off (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	NEU
United Kingdom	Alex Godfrey Empire	"A beautifully staged film with everything is in its place, this is both an affectionate homage and a timely commentary, falling only slightly short of its own ambition. Classy pulp fiction (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Sheri Linden The Hollywood Reporter	"It's great to look at, nearly giddy with pop-culture love, and its particulars are intriguing. But those pieces — by turns weird, soulful and exhilarating — merely accumulate, when they should be generating magic."	NEU
United States	James Berardinelli ReelViews	"[It] starts with a lot of promise and a full head of steam; even half-way through I was engaged. But the movie eventually careens off the track (…) Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Manohla Dargis The New York Times	"For a while, the performances and the visual style keep you easily engaged (...) but at some point (...) you want something more substantial than even Hemsworth’s admittedly mesmerizing snaky hips."	NEU
United States	Glenn Kenny rogerebert.com	"An unfortunately apt demonstration of what can befall a clever filmmaker who gets too clever (…) Rating: ★½ (out of 5)"	NEG
United States	Scott Mendelson Forbes	"[It] looks lovely (...) with a strong cast of actors giving it their all (...) However, it does not offer much in the way of narrative surprise or genre deconstruction"	NEU
United States	William Bibbiani The Wrap	"[It] is vibrant motion picture, in a way few films are nowadays. One might even call it indulgent, although “decadent” is probably more accurate."	POS
United States	Mick LaSalle San Francisco Chronicle	"Goddard has a weird problem. He has an advanced ability to say things, but he has nothing to say."	NEG
United States	David Edelstein Vulture	"'Bad Times at the El Royale' isn't an event. But I was never too bored."	NEU
United States	Jim Vejvoda IGN	"[It] may overstay its welcome a bit, and it never realizes the potential of its villain, but it’s still an engrossing, well-made crime flick bolstered by several fine performances from its ensemble cast."	POS
United States	Don Kaye Den of Geek	"Goddard has fashioned a neo-noirish crime thriller that is wholly his own original idea yet steeped in the trademarks of the genre (...) What helps the film overcome the script’s forced mechanics is the cast."	POS

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