SPOILERS
I recall writing a script back in high school where a pair of criminals were to meet at the crossroads of the Ohio and Indiana state line near Lawrenceburg. This is where time zones split into central and eastern time. At the end, a gun fight lands them both in two different time zones. The gimmick was nice, but the execution was clunky and dumb. BUT, strangely enough much of what this film presented was included in my film...when I wrote it at 18 years of age. Pulp fiction is slick with a lot of dark humor and this gleefully hits on all the great points of it.
The story is of 7 people who end up at the El Royale, which, in real life was the Cal-Neva hotel near Tahoe where part of the hotel was in California, the other in Nevada. Cute concept. So much so, Frank Sintra himself bought into it. A hideaway for seedy events, sexual affairs and gambling. Imagine that, then take away its gaming license and all you get is a shell of grandeur and then the criminals post up in its rooms to do strange things. The dark soul of humans know no bounds when no one is watching. Or in this case, remnants of the bygone era still haunt it.
So, it's a meeting ground for much of withdrawn youth such as hippie cults, old rickety bank robbers and F.B.I. investigations. Holding down the fort is a bell hop who seems to drop from the sky and has no reason to leave. Nor anyone could recall why he would be posted there. Those are answered much later. And the more it sinks in, the more you realize why.
The film is a slick beautiful homage to ugliness. It's a slow burning film with deep rooted pain. Jeff Bridges plays Father Father Daniel Flynn. Who seems to have sidetracked his life into the isolated grounds. Not creepy enough, how about Dakota Johnson, who plays Emily Summerspring...a supposed flower child with the steely eyes of one who has no peace or love. Or her sister Rose, played by Cailee Sapeny, who is a traumatized girl who is a victim of cultist brainwashing. Or Jon Hamm who is a mysterious vacuum salesman who has another agenda. Or the most captivating character of all, Darlene Sweet, played by Cynthia Erivo, who is a great singer without a direction. Her character is a broken winged singing bird who just wants an opportunity...somewhere.
The El Royale is somewhere. But nowhere that any of them should be.
So as the story starts to unravel, we discover many other things about the hotel which I won't get into other than to say...this place did exist and as the saying goes if these walls could talk. In this case, if they could Drew Goddard definitely captured it's underbelly.
Though the film is stunning and, at times heartbreaking, the ending is a bit too long and a bit...dumbed down. When the shit hits the fan, there doesn't seem to be much satisfaction. The bad guy doesn't get his comeuppance at the hands of whom he truly did wrong. But, it is satisfactory enough. There is also a sudden character change that pops into gear and seems a bit too crowd pleasing, but still...fun. Everything unfolds nicely and the soundtrack is smashing! I loved it for that reason alone.
This is a film I wish they could do more of, but won't get a chance. It's essentially a single room play that I can see being turned into something big down the road.
This will be discovered later and appreciated for what it actually is. Go see it in the theater. It's worth it on the big screen.
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