Dave reviews - - Bad Times at the El Royale (2018)

[Dave (imported)]

Bad Times at the El Royale

The Setup: El Royale is a motel that straddles the border between California and Nevada near Lake Tahoe. Ever since the "Hotel El Royale" (as it pretentiously calls itself) lost its gambling license, it has been half closed and nearly empty. This night, a half-dozen people converge on the El Royale and each of them has a past they are striving to keep secret.

This is a Neo-Noir mystery in the style of Quentin Tarantino (that means bursts of sudden and brutal violence).

The movie begins like an old joke - A vacuum cleaner salesman, a bar singer, and an Old Priest meet in the lobby of an empty motel - The timid and quivering hotel clerk is asleep in the back room. He is the only employee of the motel on-duty that night.

But none of these characters is what they seem. Neither is the El Royale. Things happen. Secrets are revealed. People die.

Soon we see hidden mirrors, cameras, wooden floor planks being removed, a kidnapping, and a murder. Ties to a national murder by a cult and other ties to political figures... It's a mystery waiting to be solved and buried. . .

This movie is both entertaining and intriguing; A pleasant diversion from Rom-Coms and Teen Movies and CGI superheroes. Don’t expect Shakespeare but the acting is good and the story well done.