鈥淭he Royal Hotel鈥� is a horror movie but don't expect any jump-cuts, scary masks or serial killers. It's more like the horror that dawns on a frog when it realizes it is being boiled alive.
Filmmaker tells a captivating tale of two young American female backpackers who find themselves tending bar for a few weeks in a very remote part of Australia.
The bar is a dump ironically called 鈥淭he Royal Hotel鈥� and the clientele are rough, hard-drinking miners unfamiliar with the etiquette of Miss Manners or even just respectful interaction.
Our two heroines 鈥� and Jessica Henwick from 鈥� really should not be in this situation. They are the recipients of dirty jokes, drunken behavior, offensive nicknames and constant propositions. One client pays for his beer by passive-aggressively tossing coins at them.
鈥淲ouldn鈥檛 hurt you to smile a bit?鈥� they are asked.
Green, who directs with a screenplay she wrote with Oscar Redding, explores how women respond to a male-centered environment and how it can test their own friendship. The constant threat of violence hangs over this tale very uncomfortably, its wingman always being alcohol. Would-be heroes come and then show their true nature, slinking off.
It is a subtle movie, with the growing accretion of indignities building slowly until one of the women blurts out: 鈥淚鈥檓 scared. I鈥檓 scared of this place. I鈥檓 scared of everyone and everything in this place.鈥�
And yet, they stay.
The remoteness of the bar 鈥� a bus is always several days away 鈥� helps explain some of the stasis, but the two women have the very human tendency to settle: They make excuses, they blame themselves, they point to cultural misunderstandings and another day begins.
plays the bar owner, the arbiter of what is correct (mis)behavior. But the moral center is played by Ursula Yovich, who speaks truth to power and when she leaves, allows chaos to fully enter.
鈥淭he Royal Hotel鈥� has a pessimistic 鈥� OK, accurate 鈥� view of gender relations. The two sides simply don't understand each other 鈥� 鈥淚 can鈥檛 hear you,鈥� says one of the women early on to a would-be suitor 鈥� and attempts at conversation are so often drowned out by noise. It asks how you can rationalize ending up mopping up puke in a dive bar in rural Down Under.
The movie perfectly starts with a dark remix of Men at Work鈥檚 鈥淒own Under.鈥� Remember the lyrics: 鈥淏uying bread from a man in Brussels/He was 6-foot-4 and full of muscle/I said, 鈥楧o you speak my language?鈥� He just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich."
鈥淭he Royal Hotel鈥� shares a vibe with 鈥� an arty indictment of toxic masculinity that often felt like a lecture. But Green's film doesn't feel like that. The final scene will make you cheer, even if the ultimate message is murky.
鈥淭he Royal Hotel,鈥� a Neon release, is rated R for 鈥渓anguage throughout, sexual content and nudity.鈥� Running time: 91 minutes. Three stars out of four.
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MPAA definition of R: Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
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Mark Kennedy is at
Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press
