After a career writing for twisty — and frequently Abrams-ian — projects like Alias, Lost and Cloverfield, Drew Goddard made his directorial debut with 2012’s The Cabin in the Woods. Equal parts homage and satire, “Cabin” was the perfect vehicle for Goddard’s particular blend of genre appreciation and experimental tomfoolery.
In his feature follow-up, Goddard doesn’t put away his bag of tricks, but he draws from it considerably less. Much like how “Cabin” explored the conventions of teen slasher flicks, “Bad Times at the El Royale” plays with the classic Dark and Stormy Night setup, with seven strangers colliding at a once-swanky hotel that straddles the Nevada-California border. In many ways it feels like the spiritual offspring of “Clue,” or perhaps its violent younger sibling.
We arrive at the El Royale with Darlene Sweet (Cynthia Erivo), a singer en route to a gig in Reno, and are quickly introduced to Father Daniel Flynn (Jeff Bridges), traveling salesman Laramie Seymour Sullivan (Jon Hamm), Emily Summerspring (Dakota Johnson) and bellhop Miles (Lews Pullman). A couple other characters are ultimately introduced (including a Charles Manson-esque Chris Hemsworth) and it goes without saying that no one is quite the person they appear to be.
In bits and pieces, Goddard reveals the true agendas behind each guest’s stay at the El Royale, and in no time at those agendas to collide with revelatory and occasionally fatal results. There are many surprises at the “Royale,” but several plot beats are a little too easy to track from minute one.
A big element in “Royale” is mood, which Goddard uses to maximum result, but the atmosphere can only get you so far before you have to deal with an actual story, and that’s where the seams begin to show. Once all the cards are on the table, the film starts to run out of steam.
The cast is clearly enjoying the opportunity to play against type, with Hamm and Hemsworth in particular chewing a bit of scenery in their respective roles. And Erivo, as the audience surrogate, is superb as the closest thing to a “normal” person in a cartoonishly chaotic film.
But the gimmickry is half the fun. The style and the amount of talent on screen makes up for the film’s weaknesses, resulting in something akin to a magician’s act. You’ll know you’re being tricked, but you won’t mind at all.
Grade: B+
Bad Times at the El Royale opens nationwide on Friday, October 12.