Nothing is what it seems at the El Royale, a fabulous 60s Lake Tahoe hotel with a seedy past and now firmly off the beaten track. Seven strangers all inevitably interlinked in some obscure way find themselves in the deserted hotel – the question is who’s going to survive the night.
It should have been magical – with a cast including (the ever enjoyable) Jeff Bridges, Jon Hamm, Chris Hemsworth – but it’s Cynthia Erivo who steals the show in a somewhat lacklustre thriller. An over-indulgent 140 minutes that could – and should – have been much more than a fleeting, unmemorable bit of fun.
Rating: 58%
Director: Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods)
Writer: Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods, The Martian)
Main cast: Jeff Bridges (The Only Living Boy in New York, Crazy Heart), Jon Hamm (Beirut, Marjorie Prime), Chris Hemsworth (Thor: Ragnarok, In the Heart of the Sea)
An Opinion or Two 