History Film / BadTimesAtTheElRoyale

Set in the late 1960s, it follows seven strangers, each with their own agenda, who meet at the ''El Royale'' hotel located on the California-Nevada border. Among them are a priest (Creator/JeffBridges), a lounge singer (Creator/CynthiaErivo), a vacuum-cleaner salesman (Creator/JonHamm), two sisters (Creator/DakotaJohnson and Creator/CaileeSpaeny), a cult leader (Creator/ChrisHemsworth), and the hotel's sole employee (Creator/LewisPullman).

!!This film provides examples of:

* MercyKill:
** [[spoiler:Miles dies being absolved of his sins during the war and not having to be weighed down by them anymore.]]
** [[spoiler:Had Rose lived, she would have eventually had to face the consequences and immense guilt of everything she did for Billy Lee.]]

* CastingGag: Creator/JeffBridges once again plays a [[Film/{{Tron}} Flynn]], [[spoiler:though this time it’s just an alias]].

* ColorMotif: Cinematographer Seamus [=McGarvey=] used specific colors to showcase certain characters’ motivations and moral standings. In order of appearance:

** Billy Lee is associated with red, for the significance of “impending doom, blood, and death”. (Could also represent his dedication to Rose.)

* ConvectionSchmonvection: [[spoiler: The ''El Royale'' is set on fire during the climactic fight, but Darlene and Flynn stay inside for several minutes without even sweating.]]
* CorneredRattlesnake: Billy Lee pushes Flynn too far in his assumption that Flynn's just a doddering old priest. [[spoiler: Flynn's also got about 40 years of fighting experience on Billy Lee, and kicks the younger man's ass with little effort.]]

** [[spoiler: Sullivan was sent to the ''El Royale'' in order to get rid of the FBI's surveillance equipment.]]

* DiesWideOpen: [[spoiler: Sullivan, Emily, and Miles die with their eyes open. Surprisingly averted with Billy, even though he is shot in the forehead.]]

** Sullivan's first conversations with the other guests displays a friendly if a little sleazy personality. [[spoiler: His real introduction is his sweet conversation with his family and his keen investigative skills, revealing his moral uprightness.]]
** Father Flynn is a friendly, if eccentric, priest who's nothing but understanding. [[spoiler: His private scene witnessed by Sullivan shows a frantic, desperate search for the money, connecting him to dangerous criminals... but then quickly relaxing upon hearing Darlene sing, showing he isn't ''evil''.]]
** Rose first appears as a terrified victim of kidnapping. [[spoiler: But the moment she's told she doesn't have to be afraid, [[TheSociopath she loses all emotion for most of the film]].]]
** Billy Lee's first scene portrays him [[MessianicArchetype under the glow of the sun]], helping out Rose in the middle of her depression. [[spoiler: His next is leading his cult to capture and hold hostage the entire hotel.]]

* EvilIsPetty: [[spoiler: Billy claiming he 'heard better' as to continue spinning the wheel after Darlene sings promising her she wouldn't if she sang seems mostly a lie and instead him taking revenge on her for her earlier TheReasonYouSuckSpeech.]]

** Sullivan insists that Darlene have some of the coffee he's made for everyone. Considering their respective races and origins (he's ostensibly from the South) and the fact that racial segregation for hotels and restaurants has just barely been outlawed, this is a nice way to let her know that she doesn't have to worry about him taking offense to her staying there. However, he completely misses that she then has to pay for the coffee when she's clearly trying to save every penny. [[spoiler: It's indicative of his personality. A good man who insists on doing the right thing, but doesn't always think through the consequences - often causing harm to the very people he wants to help. He later disobeys orders to "rescue" Rose from her "kidnapping" - which leads to his death and the deaths of six people - half of whom arguably didn't deserve it.]]
** When Miles asks Flynn "What are you doing here, Father?", his first response is a quiet "Do I know you?" [[spoiler: It's one of the earliest hints of his Alzheimer's.]]

* GrievousBottleyHarm: [[spoiler: Darlene]] smashes Father Flynn in the face with a wine bottle, leaving him unconscious on the lounge floor.
* HaveYouToldAnyoneElse: [[spoiler: One of Billy Lee's first questions to Emily is if she told them about what Rose did.]]
* HopeSpot: [[spoiler: Billy Lee promises to spare Darlene from his sadistic game if she sings for him. She does and the film focuses in on her and plays up how much heart and soul she's putting into singing for her life. SmashCut to Billy Lee slamming the roulette table and declaring that he's "heard better".]]
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter:
** [[InvertedTrope Inverted]]. Darlene has an excellent sense for when someone is just completely full of it.

* InternalReveal: We suspect pretty early on that Father Flynn is not a priest, but the rest of the characters don't. The internal reveal proves to be particularly dramatic for [[spoiler: Darlene and Miles]].

* LetThemDieHappy: [[spoiler: Flynn assumes his identity of a priest to comfort the morally-wounded Miles, hearing his confession and absolving him.]]

* MeaningfulName: Miles; the name "Miles" is originally a Latin word for "soldier", fitting since he [[spoiler: used to be a U.S. military sniper during the Vietnam War in which he had 123 confirmed kills.]]

* MickeyMousing: [[ExploitedTrope Exploited]]. [[spoiler:To get around the two-way mirror and microphones in the rooms, Flynn hides between the beds and carefully pries his way into the floorboards, timing his sounds with Darlene's singing and clapping so that his actions will be drowned out.]]
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed:

* TeensAreMonsters: [[spoiler: Rose is the most directly violent character we see on screen, being the only one we see get up close and personal to kill.]]

[[spoiler:'''Miles:''' 123.]]

Set in the late 1960s, it follows seven strangers, each with their own agenda, who meet at the ''El Royale'' hotel located on the California-Nevada border. Among them are a priest (Creator/JeffBridges), a lounge singer (Creator/CynthiaErivo), a vacuum-cleaner salesman (Creator/JonHamm), two sisters (Creator/DakotaJohnson and Creator/CaileeSpaeny), a cult leader (Creator/ChrisHemsworth), and the hotel's sole employee (Lewis Pullman).

* KillEmAll: [[spoiler:Flynn and Darlene are the only main characters still alive by the end of the movie. And even then, Flynn's Alzheimer's will have advanced to the point he'll have forgotten just about everything about himself within the year.]]

** [[spoiler:Emily, whether you view her as such or not, did everything she did in desperation to save Rose from Billy Lee and it ultimately wasn’t enough in the end when she’s killed and Rose has almost no reaction to it.]]

* MatchCut: Miles as a child shooting an airsoft rifle cuts to Miles as an adult firing a sniper.

Set in the late 1960s, it follows seven strangers, each with their own agenda, who meet at the El Royale hotel located on the California-Nevada border. Among them are a priest (Creator/JeffBridges), a lounge singer (Creator/CynthiaErivo), a vacuum-cleaner salesman (Creator/JonHamm), two sisters (Creator/DakotaJohnson and Creator/CaileeSpaeny), a cult leader (Creator/ChrisHemsworth), and the hotel's sole employee (Lewis Pullman).

''Bad Times at the El Royale'' is a 2018 crime drama thriller from writer-director Drew Goddard. Set in California during the late 1960s, it follows seven strangers who meet at the hotel/motel ''El Royale'', each with their own agenda. They include a priest (Creator/JeffBridges), a lounge singer (Creator/CynthiaErivo), a vacuum salesman (Creator/JonHamm), two sisters (Creator/DakotaJohnson and Creator/CaileeSpaeny), the hotel's sole employee (Lewis Pullman), and a cult leader (Creator/ChrisHemsworth).

** Billy Lee is associated with red, for the significance of “impending doom, blood, and death”.

* ColorMotif: Cinematographer Seamus Mc Garvey used specific colors to showcase certain characters’ motivations and moral standings. In order of appearance:

* ContrivedCoincidence: The fact that so many people with ulterior motives happened to arrive at the hotel on the same night defies all probability.

** Whoever is the subject of the mysterious blackmail film. This person is said to be recently deceased and very important. Martin Luther King had been the subject of a similiar blackmail plot by the FBI, but the material had already been released by 1969, leaving Bobby Kennedy as the most likely candidate.

* FamousLastWords: [[spoiler: [[UnderestimatingBadassery "Easy there,]] [[KilledMidSentence altar b-"]]]]

''Bad Times at the El Royale'' is a 2018 crime drama thriller from writer-director Drew Goddard. Set in California during the late 1960s, it follows seven strangers who meet at the hotel/motel ''El Royale'', each with their own agenda. They include a priest (Creator/JeffBridges), a lounge singer (Creator/CynthiaErivo), a vacuum salesman (Creator/JonHamm), two sisters (Creator/DakotaJohnson and Cailee Spaeny), the hotel's sole employee (Lewis Pullman), and a cult leader (Creator/ChrisHemsworth).

** Father Flynn is a friendly, if eccentric, priest who's nothing but understanding. [[spoiler: His private scene witnessed by Miles shows a frantic, desperate search for the money, connecting him to dangerous criminals... but then quickly relaxing upon hearing Darlene sing, showing he isn't ''evil''.]]

* BestialityIsDepraved: Miles tells Emilly that he's seen a ''lot'' of things he wishes he hadn't during his time spying on guests at the ''El Royale'', such as a man who brought a live wolf into his room with him. He didn't exactly have sex with it... but it wasn't ''not'' sexual.

* ConcealmentEqualsCover: Averted. In the climax, one female cultist hides behind a bench, but [[spoiler:Miles]] just shoots her through it.

''Bad Times at the El Royale'' is a 2018 crime drama thriller from writer-director Drew Goddard. Set in California during the late 1960s, it follows seven strangers who meet at the hotel ''El Royale'', each with their own agenda. They include a priest (Creator/JeffBridges), a lounge singer (Creator/CynthiaErivo), a vacuum salesman (Creator/JonHamm), two sisters (Creator/DakotaJohnson and Cailee Spaeny), the hotel's sole employee (Lewis Pullman), and a cult leader (Creator/ChrisHemsworth).

* BestialityIsDepraved: Miles tells Emilly that he's seen a ''lot'' of things he wishes he hadn't during his time spying on guests at the ''El Royale'', such as a man who brought a live wolf into his room with him. He didn't exactly have sex with it... but he didn't ''not'' have sex with it, either.

* BigBad: Billy Lee doesn't get directly involved in the plot until fairly late, but as soon as he does all other conflicts are brought to a screeching halt as the remaining guests have to team up against him. Even then, [[spoiler:his influence over Rose plays a major role in the story overall.]]

* BulletproofHumanShield: Averted. [[spoiler:when Emily shoots Broadbeck with a shotgun at point blank range, the shot goes right through him and the two-way mirror behind him and injure Miles.]]

* FamousLastWords: [[spoiler: [[UnderestimatingBadassery "Easy there,]] [[KilledMidSentence alter b-"]]]]