Bad Times at the El Royaleis a fun underrated gem, with some of the best in the game at the top of their craft in this stylish neo-noir thriller.Jeff Bridgesleads the castwith a stunningCynthia Erivoin her first major leading film role. Just her second feature afterWidows, she shines in an intense performance that also saw the debut of her gorgeous singing voice on film.Chris Hemsworth,Dakota Johnson,Jon Hamm,Nick Offerman,Lewis Pullman, and a youngCailee Spaenymake up the rest of the ensemble cast. A slow-burn steeped in ’60s memorabilia, from gorgeous chandeliers, and record players, to cigarette smoke, anyone who’s a fan ofQuentin Tarantino’s style will loveBad Times at the El Royale.
Directed and written byDrew Goddard, it’s an ode to the sleek, pulpy noirs of the ’60s, while becoming its own beast in the process. An independent film clocking in at about 2 and a half hours, its star power failed to get the masses to the box office, but received strong reviews.Erivo and Bridges are excellent scene partners as they try to survive the nightin a seedy motel packed with criminals. As Erivo now gears up for the release ofher starring role as Elphabain the musical film,Wicked,Bad Times at the El Royaleis a must-watch of music and murder, with her show-stopping pipes put on full display.
In the late ’60s, various Californians and out-of-towners land at the dangerous motel, El Royale, where half of it is in California, and the other half in Nevada.Each one has a secret to hide, and they’ll all be revealed by the end of the bloody night. Erivo plays the struggling singer Darlene Sweet who arrives at the motel alongside the affable but shady priest, Father Daniel Flynn (Bridges). They check in alongside Emily Summerspring (Johnson), a tough, steely hippie, and Laramie Seymour Sullivan (Hamm), a southern businessman who is really an American spy. Pullman plays the shy front deskman at the motel, and when it’s revealed that Emily has kidnappedher brainwashed little sister, Rosie (Spaeny), from a sadistic cult leader, Billy Lee (Hemsworth), all hell breaks loose as the guests' fateful meeting with the violent cult seems imminent.
Cynthia Erivo Plays a ’60s Back-Up Singer, and Ferocious Final Girl
In a film that solely runs on diegetic music,Erivo supplies much of the soundtrack in beautiful, haunting stripped-down covers of ’60s classics.She gives a musical tour-de-force, as Darlene’s voice is her power, weakness, and salvation all at once. She uses it both to manipulate predators as a distraction, but also as comfort for those in need as they fall victim to the violent Billy Lee. Erivo and Bridges are the film’s moral compass, and the two share an endearing chemistry as each goes from being suspicious of the other to being their only true ally as the other hotel guests turn on each other.
Before ‘Wicked,’ Cynthia Erivo Put Her Spin on Star Wars in This Anthology
The Broadway superstar mixes music and magic in one of the franchise’s most unconventional series.
Erivo is an excellent final girlas the motel residents get killed off. Her best scene comes with Bridges, an aging bank robber, who is digging out a bag full of cash in her room, while a scary Dakota Johnson watches from the other side of the room with a shotgun, through a double-panned window.Erivo sings live through the entire scene, performing “you may’t Hurry Love,”and provides claps for distraction as Bridges hammers down on the wood to pry it open. It’s a double entendre, as Darlene is not only performing the song but has been forced to perform her whole life to appease others' limited expectations of her. Goddard films the scene in tight close-ups of all three actors' eyes, and the claustrophobic terror each feels, trapped in their lives. With only the sound of Erivo’s voice, and the hammer carrying the scene through, it’s a stand-out moment of genuine horror.
With its titled chapters, sudden bursts of violence, and ’60s music that carries the violence through,Bad Times at the El Royaleis downright Tarantino-esque.It’s an excellent homage to mid-century noirs, with Venetian blinds, stolen money, and political paranoia. For those who also loved Hemsworth’s recent villainous turn inFuriousa,he’s just as evil here. He’s like a Southern Californian nightmare disguised as a beautiful, ripped savior to the lonely. He effortlessly channels images of the free love decade, and the dark powers ofCharles Manson, as a seductive, rock n' roll-loving cult leader who reins down hell in the third act.
Erivo has an intense and satisfying showdown with Hemsworth, as they both represent director Goddard’s major themes of the movie — good vs. evil, and corruption vs. morality. Erivo spits out her monologue about facing bad men like Billy Lee her whole life, and her damnation of his kind is more than satisfying, with her steady voice demanding the screen. It’s adefining moment in her career that foreshadowed her star power, Erivo knocks it out of the park.
Bad Times at the El Royaleis available to rent of buy on Amazon.
Rent on Amazon
Bad Times at the El Royale
- Four strangers check in at the El Royale Hotel. The hotel is deserted, staffed by a single desk clerk. Some of the new guests' reasons for being there are less than innocent and some are not who they appear to be.
