# Bad Times at the El Royale
**Bad Times at the El Royale** is a 2018 American neo-noir thriller film written, directed, and co-produced by [Drew Goddard](https://www.edgepedia.org/drew-goddard), set in 1969 at a rundown hotel that straddles the California–Nevada border near [Lake Tahoe](https://www.edgepedia.org/lake-tahoe). Seven strangers, each carrying a secret, converge on the El Royale over one fateful night in search of redemption before events turn violent[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bad_times_at_the_el_royale). The ensemble cast includes [Jeff Bridges](https://www.edgepedia.org/jeff-bridges), Cynthia Erivo, Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm, Cailee Spaeny, Lewis Pullman, and Chris Hemsworth[2](https://www.20thcenturystudios.com/movies/bad-times-at-the-el-royale).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writer | Drew Goddard, his second feature after *The Cabin in the Woods*[2](https://www.20thcenturystudios.com/movies/bad-times-at-the-el-royale) • [3](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/bad-times-at-the-el-royale-is-not-as-terrible-as-it-looks-in-fact-it-defies-expectation-at-every-turn/2018/10/09/98ee9054-c73c-11e8-9b1c-a90f1daae309_story.html) |
| Setting | The winter of 1969 at the El Royale, a faded hotel sitting on the literal Nevada–California state line[4](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/bad-times-at-the-el-royale-s-drew-goddard-ready-to-finally-check-into-noir/) |
| Release | October 12, 2018 (theatrical, 20th Century Fox); December 18, 2018 (streaming)[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bad_times_at_the_el_royale) |
| Runtime | 2h 21m per Rotten Tomatoes; 2h 24min per 20th Century Studios[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bad_times_at_the_el_royale) • [2](https://www.20thcenturystudios.com/movies/bad-times-at-the-el-royale) |
| Box office | $17.8 million gross in the United States[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bad_times_at_the_el_royale) |
| Critical scores | 75% Tomatometer (260 reviews) on Rotten Tomatoes; Metascore 60 from 43 critic reviews on Metacritic[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bad_times_at_the_el_royale) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/bad-times-at-the-el-royale/) |
| Rating | R, for language, brief nudity, some drug content, and strong violence[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bad_times_at_the_el_royale) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and structure
The film's setup is deliberately familiar: seven strangers, six guests and one hotel employee, arrive at a once-glamorous lodge that has seen better days, and each carries at least one dangerous secret[4](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/bad-times-at-the-el-royale-s-drew-goddard-ready-to-finally-check-into-noir/). The guests include a shabby priest, Father Daniel Flynn (Jeff Bridges); a Reno lounge singer, Darlene Sweet ([Cynthia Erivo](https://www.edgepedia.org/cynthia-erivo)); a Southern vacuum-cleaner salesman, Laramie Seymour Sullivan ([Jon Hamm](https://www.edgepedia.org/jon-hamm)); a hardened flower child, Emily Summerspring ([Dakota Johnson](https://www.edgepedia.org/dakota-johnson)); and the hotel's front-desk clerk, Miles Miller (Lewis Pullman). Chris Hemsworth appears late in the film as Billy Lee, a charismatic cult figure[4](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/bad-times-at-the-el-royale-s-drew-goddard-ready-to-finally-check-into-noir/) • [3](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/bad-times-at-the-el-royale-is-not-as-terrible-as-it-looks-in-fact-it-defies-expectation-at-every-turn/2018/10/09/98ee9054-c73c-11e8-9b1c-a90f1daae309_story.html).
The screenplay shows the same events from multiple perspectives, a structure critics compared to *Rashomon*, with flashbacks revealing each character's true identity and motives in turn[6](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/bad-times-at-the-el-royale-review-film-crime-thriller-chris-hemsworth-dakota-johnson-jeff-bridges-jon-hamm-a8578151.html). The hotel itself, split by a red line through the lobby with California on one side and Nevada on the other, functions as a physical expression of the film's theme of duality[3](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/bad-times-at-the-el-royale-is-not-as-terrible-as-it-looks-in-fact-it-defies-expectation-at-every-turn/2018/10/09/98ee9054-c73c-11e8-9b1c-a90f1daae309_story.html).
## Production
Goddard wrote and directed the film for 20th Century Fox, producing with Jeremy Latcham[2](https://www.20thcenturystudios.com/movies/bad-times-at-the-el-royale). [Principal photography](https://www.edgepedia.org/principal-photography) ran from January to April 2018, with shooting in Los Angeles, California, and Vancouver, British Columbia[7](https://www.productionlist.com/production/bad-times-at-the-el-royale). Production designer Martin Whist built a 10,000-square-foot hotel from scratch on a Vancouver sound stage[8](https://moveablefest.com/martin-whist-bad-times-at-the-el-royale/).
Seamus McGarvey served as cinematographer and [Michael Giacchino](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-giacchino) composed the score[6](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/bad-times-at-the-el-royale-review-film-crime-thriller-chris-hemsworth-dakota-johnson-jeff-bridges-jon-hamm-a8578151.html) • [3](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/bad-times-at-the-el-royale-is-not-as-terrible-as-it-looks-in-fact-it-defies-expectation-at-every-turn/2018/10/09/98ee9054-c73c-11e8-9b1c-a90f1daae309_story.html). The soundtrack pairs Giacchino's music with 1960s rock, pop, and R&B selections that establish the period setting[9](https://borg.com/2024/10/06/bad-times-at-the-el-royale/).
## The 1969 setting
Goddard has said he chose 1969 deliberately as a pivot point in American history, a decade's end marked by the assassinations of [John F. Kennedy](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-f-kennedy), Martin Luther King, and Bobby Kennedy within a five-year span, and by social upheaval closing out the 1960s[10](https://www.lwlies.com/interviews/drew-goddard-bad-times-at-the-el-royale). Reviewers identified threads involving the [Vietnam War](https://www.edgepedia.org/vietnam-war), a Manson-like cult, and the civil rights struggle woven into the story, though the Washington Post's critic judged that Goddard treats the 1960s more as a stylish narrative device than as a fully argued political period[3](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/bad-times-at-the-el-royale-is-not-as-terrible-as-it-looks-in-fact-it-defies-expectation-at-every-turn/2018/10/09/98ee9054-c73c-11e8-9b1c-a90f1daae309_story.html).
## Reception
The film received broadly favorable but divided reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes it holds a 75% Tomatometer from 260 reviews, with a critics consensus calling it "smart, stylish, and packed with solid performances"[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bad_times_at_the_el_royale). On Metacritic it scored 60 out of 100 from 43 critics, categorized as mixed or average, while its user score stood at 7.1 from 316 ratings[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/bad-times-at-the-el-royale/).
Praise concentrated on the cast and craft. The Independent called Jeff Bridges's performance the stand-out[6](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/bad-times-at-the-el-royale-review-film-crime-thriller-chris-hemsworth-dakota-johnson-jeff-bridges-jon-hamm-a8578151.html), and the Washington Post named Cynthia Erivo, a 2016 Tony Award winner for *The Color Purple*, the film's breakout star[3](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/bad-times-at-the-el-royale-is-not-as-terrible-as-it-looks-in-fact-it-defies-expectation-at-every-turn/2018/10/09/98ee9054-c73c-11e8-9b1c-a90f1daae309_story.html). Critics also singled out the production design and McGarvey's cinematography[3](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/bad-times-at-the-el-royale-is-not-as-terrible-as-it-looks-in-fact-it-defies-expectation-at-every-turn/2018/10/09/98ee9054-c73c-11e8-9b1c-a90f1daae309_story.html).
The recurring criticism was length and structure. The Independent described "a protracted crime thriller with a very cumbersome screenplay" that increasingly resembled pastiche Tarantino as it ran out of steam[6](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/bad-times-at-the-el-royale-review-film-crime-thriller-chris-hemsworth-dakota-johnson-jeff-bridges-jon-hamm-a8578151.html). Screen's review noted that comparisons to [Quentin Tarantino](https://www.edgepedia.org/quentin-tarantino) were invited by the film's graphic violence, jumbled chronology, and colorful duplicitous characters, and that once the mysteries were revealed the film was less nimble than in its buildup[11](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/bad-times-at-the-el-royale-review/5132881.article). Manohla Dargis of the New York Times called it a "logy" 2-hour-and-21-minute exercise[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bad_times_at_the_el_royale).
## Commercial performance and context
The film grossed $17.8 million in the United States[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bad_times_at_the_el_royale). Screen's pre-release analysis observed that, as an original work not based on any existing material, it faced a marketing challenge in which good reviews and word of mouth from genre fans would be crucial[11](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/bad-times-at-the-el-royale-review/5132881.article). Goddard himself framed the project in a Los Angeles Times interview as part of a rare breed: an original movie from a Hollywood studio[12](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-bad-times-at-the-el-royale-drew-goddard-20181011-story.html).
## References
1. [Bad Times at the El Royale, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bad_times_at_the_el_royale)
2. [Bad Times at the El Royale, 20th Century Studios](https://www.20thcenturystudios.com/movies/bad-times-at-the-el-royale)
3. [Michael O'Sullivan, "'Bad Times at the El Royale' is not as terrible as it looks," The Washington Post, October 9, 2018](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/bad-times-at-the-el-royale-is-not-as-terrible-as-it-looks-in-fact-it-defies-expectation-at-every-turn/2018/10/09/98ee9054-c73c-11e8-9b1c-a90f1daae309_story.html)
4. [David Crow, "Bad Times at the El Royale's Drew Goddard Ready to Finally Check into Noir," Den of Geek, October 12, 2018](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/bad-times-at-the-el-royale-s-drew-goddard-ready-to-finally-check-into-noir/)
5. [Bad Times at the El Royale Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/bad-times-at-the-el-royale/)
6. [Geoffrey Macnab, "Bad Times at the El Royale review," The Independent, October 12, 2018](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/bad-times-at-the-el-royale-review-film-crime-thriller-chris-hemsworth-dakota-johnson-jeff-bridges-jon-hamm-a8578151.html)
7. [Bad Times At The El Royale, Production List](https://www.productionlist.com/production/bad-times-at-the-el-royale)
8. ["Interview: Production Designer Martin Whist on Having the Keys to the Hotel in 'Bad Times at the El Royale'," The Moveable Fest](https://moveablefest.com/martin-whist-bad-times-at-the-el-royale/)
9. ["Now streaming–Bad Times at El Royale, revisit an all-star gem," borg.com, October 6, 2024](https://borg.com/2024/10/06/bad-times-at-the-el-royale/)
10. ["Drew Goddard: 'In dark times I find myself falling back on art'," Little White Lies](https://www.lwlies.com/interviews/drew-goddard-bad-times-at-the-el-royale)
11. ["'Bad Times At The El Royale': Review," Screen Daily](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/bad-times-at-the-el-royale-review/5132881.article)
12. ["'Bad Times at the El Royale' writer-director Drew Goddard on an endangered species: an original movie from a Hollywood studio," Los Angeles Times, October 11, 2018](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-bad-times-at-the-el-royale-drew-goddard-20181011-story.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Film noir and neo-noir films › Released 1977 to 2022*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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