BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE | FAMILY MOVIE REVIEW INFORMATION FOR PARENTS AND KIDS

"BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE"
(2018) (Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo) (R)

QUICK TAKE:: Dramatic Thriller: A bunch of strangers end up at a remote hotel where their lives and reasons for being there end up interconnected.

PLOT:

It's the late 1960s and the El Royale is a hotel situated atop the California-Nevada border that once was a hot spot among celebrities and politicians but has since fallen on hard times. Nonetheless, it's located at a convenient stopover spot for travelers and as the story begins small-time singer Darlene Sweet (CYNTHIA ERIVO) has just arrived and finds Father Daniel Flynn (JEFF BRIDGES) appearing to be lost and confused.

She helps him inside where they end up meeting vacuum cleaner salesman Laramie Seymour Sullivan (JON HAMM) who seems to know a lot about the place and its history and grows impatient waiting for the hotel's apparent lone employee, Miles (LEWIS PULLMAN), to show up and check them in.

During that, a young woman, Emily (DAKOTA JOHNSON), drives up fast to the hotel, isn't keen on signing her name in the ledger, and secretly brings a younger bound woman, Ruth (CAILEE SPAENY), into her room. That's all while Miles shoots up and the priest separately seems to try to drug Darlene's drink before she knocks him out cold with a bottle to the head.

When cult leader Billy Lee (CHRIS HEMSWORTH) shows up with his goons looking for someone who's flown from his flock, things become increasingly tense as the reasons for everyone's stay at the hotel end up being revealed, just like secrets about the place itself.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: Teens might, especially if they're fans of anyone in the cast or might be drawn to the story that has the look and feel of a Quentin Tarantino movie.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R: For strong violence, language, some drug content and brief nudity.

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