The Royal Hotel
October 4th, 2023
MOVIE: THE ROYAL HOTEL
STARRING: JULIA GARNER, JESSICA HENWICK, HERBERT NORDRUM, HUGO WEAVING
DIRECTED BY: KITTY GREEN
AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 3 ½ STARS (Out of 4)
When the camera pushes into the main setting of Kitty Green’s The Royal Hotel, it feels like we’re doused in gasoline, shaken up, and placed onto a fiery pyre. The initial plot involves two friends trying to escape the stress of life, looking to make a bit of money on their endless vacation, with hopes to support more travels ahead. What they get is little rest and the environment of a dysfunctional family. The Royal Hotel is captivating and intense, resulting in a razor-sharp new thriller, signifying that no matter how much you try to escape the chaotic world, the madness of it will certainly find you.
There will be many different topics and themes of The Royal Hotel worthy of discussion. At its center is the sheer reality of being a woman, that no matter what country a woman is in, she must always be on guard, for the wolves are near. The two leads are Liv (Jessica Henwick) and Hanna (Julia Garner), both vacationing across the world, with their backpacks and plenty of hope for freedom. We catch up with them in Australia, at a party, and desperately needing cash to supply their vacation fun. They pick up a job as bartenders in a remote area, The Royal Hotel, run by a drunk named Billy (Hugo Weaving) and his assistant Carol (Ursula Yovich). The clientele are regular drunks and sweaty men getting off their jobs at oil rigs. Not exactly paradise but they are making money and all they have to do is put up with it…
The screenplay scribed by Green and co-author Oscar Redding not only has a grasp on the dingy and disgusting setting, but with Henwick and Garner as the leads, it becomes a perfect combination of independent women being bullied and lost in an environment they don’t know. The reality is that from scene to scene we can’t predict how customers will act towards them or if they can trust anyone. Hanna is constantly berated with comments of “smile for me darling”, while Liv shows that she is no stranger to this kind of Neanderthal behavior. Even the local women who sit at the bar join in on the male patron’s misogyny as if to say, “If I had to put up with it, then so do you.”
Similar to Kitty Green’s previous film, The Assistant, this isn’t just about gender dynamics, but about universal human interactions. The way men talk to women and how women are expected and encouraged to let it slide. The tension grows as they are viewed as pieces of meat. The performances from Garner and Henwick are equal, initially a tight friendship that is gradually worn down by the ugliness of it all. Various regulars enter in the picture, a local named Matty (played excellently by Babyteeth actor Toby Wallace) has a connection with Hanna, while Liv starts sinking into the lifestyle of others. The terror of it becomes how their stay will unfold, where some locals threaten them, others attempt to charm them, and the question remains of whether they can survive.
What The Royal Hotel nails is the ending, arguably one of the best of 2023, where Green takes us to the edge. Similar to other Australian films, the landscape creates great isolation, which is reminiscent of the 2020 film The Dry, where the connection of the community can tear apart the humanity of an outsider. It’s all so authentic. Where Garner and Henwick show off their great acting ability. Where the drama becomes fully submerged into the lives of these characters and this story becomes a vacation destination you never forget. The Royal Hotel is spectacular and Kitty Green is now wearing the crown.
THE ROYAL HOTEL IS PLAYING IN SELECT THEATERS FRIDAY OCTOBER 6TH, 2023.
3 ½ STARS
Written by: Leo Brady
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