Bad Times at the El Royale (2018)

My Review

“Bad Times at the El Royale” follows seven strangers with hidden pasts who converge at a run-down and semi-abandoned hotel in the California desert near the Nevada line. Director-screenwriter Drew Goddard (“Cabin in the Woods” 2012) kept the 140 minute film on track with good pacing and did a good job balancing the diverse cast of actors and the characters they portray.

The talented cast includes Jeff Bridges as an ex-con posing as a Catholic priest, Cynthia Ervio as a struggling singer, Dakota Johnson and Cailee Spaeny as sisters fleeing from a cult, Jon Hamm as an undercover FBI agent, Chris Hemsworth as the cult leader, Lewis Pullman as the mild-mannered hotel clerk, and William B. Davis as Judge Hoffman. Co-stars include Nick Offerman, Xavier Dolan, Shea Whigham, Mark O’Brien, Charles Halford, Manny Jacinto, and Jim O’Heir.

The watchable “Bad Times at the El Royale” was a box office flop for Goddard Textiles and 20th Century Fox. It was filmed in British Columbia, Canada.