I guess there really are some places you shouldn’t visit. Good to know.
The upcoming Neon film “The Royal Hotel”, inspired by “Hotel Coolgardie” by Pete Gleeson, is not at all what I was expecting. I’m excited and a little scared.
When a film is inspired by real events, be they captured in a documentary or not, it’s a big tossup. So many things can shift or change, depending on the needs, and a whole new something can exist. Whether or not that new thing is any good could very well depend on the viewer.
Nice Work If You Can Get It
The first thought I had, other than “Wow!”, was something along the lines of how I was reminded of a similar film. Another story inspired by real events. I even went back to watch the trailer for it, to make sure I was correct and not just trying to make it seem similar. I was right. That little film, based on a disturbing true story is called “Compliance”. And I’m officially worried about how this film will go down.
I’m not thinking it’s going to be a bad film at all. I think it’s going to have something for all kinds of viewers. I also feel like there might be a level of suspense and fear building that’s different and difficult to get from your typical thriller. It could also be something that has people wondering why it was needed to be made? It’s not that a story like this shouldn’t be told and talked about more, much like how the events that inspired “Compliance” were talked about all over and inspired other fictional takes: “Law & Order: SVU” being one of them. It’s that its subject matter is so brutal and disturbing, that one may wonder something along the lines of, “How can you find this entertaining?” I’m wondering that again about “Compliance”.
I remember watching the Dreama Walker and Ann Dowd starring film, and found myself equal parts riveted and shocked. I’m not fully sure what I thought after watching it, but I’m hoping it was centered on the idea of getting excited to see such a film. It’s not an easy watch. Which likely explains why I still don’t own it. You can’t gleefully go in watching a film that’s so difficult to sit through, even with powerful performances, over and over as if it were some simple comedy.
And here lies the interesting problem for this upcoming film. It’s likely to do well. The performances, which I’m already amazed by and excited to see, will likely floor audiences. But what will the takeaway be? I feel this is where we all have to wait and find out. How far beyond the real events will this film go? What then, will this film become? A kind of tables turned situation or simply a fight for your life and wait until you can leave this place called hell? This trailer seems to be leaving that a bit up in the air, but I think it’ll be the right kind of hook to lure people in. And hopefully people are ready to be on edge and angry. If this one trailer can have me this tense already, what will the film be like?
Official Poster:
Expected Release: Oct. 6, 2023
Director: Kitty Green
Writers: Kitty Green and Oscar Redding
Starring: Julia Garner, Jessica Henwick, Toby Wallace, Hugo Weaving, Ursula Yovich, Daniel Henshall, James Frecheville and Herbert Nordrum
...Everything in Between 