Written & Directed by Drew Goddard.
★★★
This is the second film from Cabin in the Woods' Drew Goddard, and he has as much fund playing with mystery thriller tropes here as he did with horror tropes there.
A few strangers descend on the El Royale hotel (its own character), a once-thriving resort that lies on the California-Nevada border. Now in 1969, it hasn't had guests in days. We meet the nervous bellboy (Lewis Pullman) while he greets a grizzled priest (Jeff Bridges), a chatty salesman (Jon Hamm), a forlorn singer (Cynthia Erivo), a hostile hippie (Dakota Johnson) and so on. The players each get their own room, and one by one we learn more of their stories, and that none of them are as they seem. All the while the hotel's jukebox plays just the right song for every occasion.
The cast is great, and each actor gets their own moment to shine. The way it unravels reminded me of Tarantino's The Hateful Eight, though I would say El Royale is a better movie. It may not have much substance, but it has style up the wazoo.
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