Bad Times at the El Royale (2018) film review

Year: 2018
Running Time: 141 minutes
Writer/Director: Drew Goddard
Cast: Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Jon Hamm, Dakota Johnson, Chris Hemswoth, Cailee Spaeny, Lewis Pullman, Nick Offerman, Xavier Dolan

Entertaining and delightful at face value and excellent beneath it's surface,  Bad Times at the El Royale is a rare gem of cinema that turns deception into a stunning and enjoyable piece of art. With it's array of superb performances and it's nostalgia-charged production, this film says a great deal more than it does on it's already fascinating surface.

Written and directed by Drew Goddard, the film starts off by deceiving it's audience into believing that they will be watching an Agatha Christie-esque story set in 1968 play out on screen. A group of strangers arrive in a seemingly deserted hotel on the California-Nevada border that was once the scene of many a party of the Hollywood elite, but now only contains the ghosts of it's glory days and a sinister and sleazy atmosphere thanks to the retro lighting, dark corners and a bell boy (Lewis Pullman) who is never quite present.

We are introduced to each of these mysterious travellers and, as is unfortunately human nature, judgement is swiftly passed on each one of them as we note their flaws and attempt to guess what their story is. Bad Times at the El Royale does look like a typical thriller, so that is what our minds have been trained to do when watching such a film. However, once Jon Hamm's egotistical salesman, Laramie Seymour Sullivan reveals himself to be quite the opposite, the story quickly reveals each of the characters and their situations to be quite different than what we assumed and that is when the film reveals itself to as far as possible from a Christie novel.

Bad Times at the El Royale is unpredictable in the most unpredictable of ways. The screenplay is not only well constructed with spectacular character development and an intriguing and suspenseful story, but it also presents us with something of a realisation about ourselves. Bad Times at the El Royale does something very few genre films do and that is it makes us stop and question the relationship between what means we use to solve a mystery and how judgemental we are as humans. We are so quick to predict the motives of the characters based on what we see them doing, their professions, how they talk and how they are dressed, that it is only time that reveals that things really are not as they seem and there are very few characters are what they seem. In addition to that, there are so many complex personalities that also make you question what makes a good person or a bad person, and does it all just depend on circumstance?

It is a brilliant method of deception by Goddard, but it also reminds how we pass judgement on everyone we meet. It is a horrible part of human nature to base judgement on first impressions and it often takes something, such as Bad Times at the El Royale to remind us of this.

However, the associated guilt of this realisation is almost welcomed as Bad Times at the El Royale is so well done. At it's 2 hours and 21 minutes running time, it is a roller coaster of a film with a steep ascent for the first hour to build suspense, followed by fast paced twists and turns. The incredible production design of the El Royale is absolutely mesmerising.  Yet, it is Cynthia Erivo as struggling, down on her luck singer, Darlene Sweet that is completely and utterly spellbinding. Erivo owns every scene she is in and with her own hand, almost brings the film into the musical genre. Like a performance in such a genre, she not only has an amazing singing voice, but she is able to portray her character through song as well as her dialogue.

The film also benefits from star performances by Chris Hemsworth, who once again proves his versatility by becoming a terrifying Charles Manson-like manipulative. Lewis Pullman also gives a head-turning performance as the bellboy, Miles Miller, a character who is one of the true surprise packets of the film.

Bad Times at the El Royale is whole load of fun and a true creative joy. It makes the unforeseeable link between how we watch a thriller and how our minds work as humans and does it in entrancing fluorescent lighting style.

9/10

A Bigger Splash (2015) film review

Year: 2015
Running Time: 122 minutes
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Writer: Alain Page (story), David Kajganich (screenplay)
Cast: Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes, Matthias Schoenaerts, Dakota Johnson

A Bigger Splash is now showing in Australian cinemas and is distributed by Studiocanal.

Lucas Guadagnino's The Bigger Splash is a slow-burning, sexually charged film about heightened emotions that is a stunning achievement in cinematography and editing.

After singing sensation, Marianne (Tilda Swinton) undergoes throat surgery, she takes a much needed therapeutic vacation to the Italian island of Pantelleria with her boyfriend, Paul (Matthias Schoenaerts). Their time of much needed and glorious solitude is disrupted when Marianne's past love and record producer, Harry (Ralph Fiennes) arrives with his daughter, Penelope (Dakota Johnson). What was supposed to be an idyllic and uneventful summer of rehabilitation for Marianne and Paul turns into a time of temptation, hostility and jealousy.

Based on the Jacques Deray's 1969 film La piscine, A Bigger Splash lives up to it's name as it's impact is greater felt than in the original. Guadagnino's film is a psychological, sexual thriller which slowly simmers it's way to the inevitable showdown between all the characters. It's incredibly slow pace and techniques of building tension using symbolism and unique cinematography is particularly Hitchcock-esque and one would believe that if Hitchcock himself were to make a modern day film set in such a setting, it would greatly resemble A Bigger Splash.

Those who are strong in their belief of film as art will revel in the film's finer qualities and enjoy the slow burn nature it possesses, while those who prefer a heightened sense of tension by way of a fast moving thriller will not understand the appeal of A Bigger Splash. However, both parties will agree that the film is approximately 20 minutes longer than it should be with the final few scenes feeling unwarranted and misplaced. Yes, the film is a slow burn....until it reaches it's explosive conflict and suddenly everything speeds up. It is obvious that there is a point to including these final scenes, but they do feel out of place with the majority of the film.

A Bigger Splash has an unique way of looking at human qualities such as jealousy, addiction and temptation. The choice made for Tilda Swinton's Marianne to technically have no voice is a particularly interesting one. By taking away something like the gift of speech, it paves the way for other modes of communication to be heightened. This symbolises how while the characters may not always be saying how they are feeling, their emotions are showing loud and clear in other ways. The cinematography helps one to see these feelings where it is needed using particularly interesting means of doing so such as focusing in on certain images and using camera angles to give the viewer the same view as the characters in the film.

One cannot deny how aesthetically pleasing A Bigger Splash is. The location shots for the film are absolutely exquisite, but also create an atmosphere where one feels the dangerous and tempestuous air in paradise. It is easy to imagine what forbidden things could take place on an island such as Pantelleria, as it is comparable to the Garden of Eden with the temptation of the forbidden fruit. Adding to the beauty of the film is the wonderful costume design by Guilia Piersanti, particularly that of Swinton's wardrobe.

Tilda Swinton gives a stunning performance as glam-rock star, Marianne. She is particularly superb given her lack of dialogue due to her character's loss of voice and when she does attempt to speak, the frustration of her situation (or situations once you include the fact that her old flame is crashing her love nest) is evident. Matthias Schoenaerts does well by bringing to light the sheer awkwardness of the situation and trying to handle his addiction recovery by not giving into temptation when it is all around him. Dakota Johnson is fine, yet her character is an object of temptation for the men of the film and perhaps her sexuality is a little too obvious. She more often than not wears see-through clothes, when her sexuality would be just as obvious with a bit more covered up.

Ralph Fiennes is surely the star of the film with his life of the party character. The highlight of the film (as was it's premiere at the Venice Film Festival) is Fiennes' dancing to The Rolling Stones. Besides his dancing, he gives an inspired performance with a great deal of character. Harry may seem incredibly likable and fun to be around, but he is actually quite a destructive human being both to himself and others. He draws people in with his charm and then shows his true colours and remarkably he knows this and is unapologetic.

The slow burn nature of A Bigger Splash will divide audiences, but it's visual elegance is hypnotic for even non-believers.

7/10