Review: The Royal Hotel

Image courtesy of Neon.

Director Kitty Green follows up her acclaimed "The Assistant" - a 2020 movie inspired by the Harvey Weinstein scandal - with another tense film about men making women uncomfortable. "The Royal Hotel" bears similarities to such feel-bad classics as Sam Peckinpah's "Straw Dogs" and the unsettling Austrian outback thriller "Wake in Fright."

Green's picture is also set against the backdrop of the outback, where two young American women - Hanna (Julia Garner) and Liv (Jessica Henwick) - on vacation stop for a few weeks to work at a degenerate bar in a desolate mining town. From the start, the place reeks of danger - the bar's co-owner, Carol (Ursula Yovich), comes off as cranky when she picks the two girls up in her car, but she's the least of their worries.

The bar's owner, Billy (Hugo Weaving), is a fall-down drunk who shocks Hanna when he refers to her by a degrading term upon meeting them, although Liv tries to convince her it's just a cultural thing. This becomes the dynamic between the two women throughout the course of the picture - Hanna is reserved, although for good reason, and gets the reputation of being chilly, while Liv often makes nice - or even flirts - with the bar's primarily male clientele, who are quick with dirty jokes and innuendos, which later take on more sinister forms.

The two girls befriend a young guy named Matty (Toby Wallace), who introduces himself with a dirty joke at Liv's expense. It would seem wise not to trust him, but Hanna and Liv ultimately (sort of) become friends with him, going with him to a local swimming hole and inviting him over for drinks. When he gets a little handsy with Hanna, she realizes her initial instinct might have been the correct one.

However, it's Dolly (Daniel Henshall) who's the primary source of concern for Hanna. He's a creep with a violent streak whom Hanna catches leering drunkenly down the hall from where the girls sleep one night. On another occasion, he becomes increasingly hostile - also while drunk - to an older couple who are celebrating their anniversary at the bar after Hanna refuses to have a drink with him. Even Teeth (James Frecheville), who displays a protectiveness toward Liv, appears to have obsessive tendencies that might be dangerous.

"The Royal Hotel" could be described as a thriller, although it's more of a slow burn atmosphere of menace. From start to finish, the film is an exercise in how to maintain a tense vibe through suggestion and small indignities, which when added up go a long way in explaining why Hanna appears coiled so tight. The film's finale is a bit over the top, but it will also likely elicit some cheers from viewers.

Green's previous film, "The Assistant," also starred Garner as a woman being made to feel uncomfortable around men. In that case, the man was supposed to be Harvey Weinstein - or, at least, a character based upon him - and Garner's character was one among many powerless women who worked for a predator. In "The Royal Hotel," Hanna - and, ultimately, Liv - are pushed to the point where they must confront that power. While Green's second film may not be quite as powerful as her first, this is a solid, slow-building thriller in which location, performances, and mood go a long way.