The Royal Hotel

Kitty Green directs and writes (with Oscar Redding) this film inspired by the 2016 documentary Hotel Coolgardie. Liv (Jessica Henwick) and Hanna (Julia Garner) are two backpackers in Australia. When they run out of money they find work in a very remote mining community and its one pub, The Royal Hotel, run by Billy (Hugo Weaving) and Carol (Usula Yovich). What they find is a male dominated, isolated community whose highlight is the regular turnover of young women working at the bar. It’s an environment that, for Hanna at least, quickly turns from intimidating rowdy bar to threatening environment with unwanted attention. Isolated, scared and worried about Liv, Hanna decides enough is enough.

The Royal Hotel is an intriguing original piece of story telling. It’s a psychological thriller that leaves its main question, is the threat that Hanna feels is real or built from her own anxiety and fear, ambiguous throughout. It’s never clear the intentions of the bars patrons, from the potentially innocent Teeth (James Frecheville), the age appropriate Matty (Toby Wallace) or the menacing Dolly (Daniel Henshall). The dysfunctional bar owners don’t help! Alongside Hannah’s fear is Liv’s more accepting view. She enjoys the bar, starts to party with the locals and looks to calm Hannah, encourage her to accept the locals as harmless and enjoy the experience. This all adds to the ambiguous nature of the story.

It wastes none of its 91 minutes building the anxiety of a young woman in an isolated male dominated environment. And this uncertainty is played throughout and even in its final act, with its enjoyable turn, remains ambiguous an unanswered.

Perhaps its only failing is it’s not quite as crazy as the real story from which it takes its inspiration.

The Royal Hotel is a smart bit of storytelling. It plays cleverly with its central theme, leaving it ambiguous and unanswered. Julia Garner is excellent in her central role and takes you along for the ride. At just 91 minutes it’s a clever and tense psychological thriller.