Film Preview: Bad Times at the El Royale (2018)

Page Revisions:

(Jun. 10, 2018) Original
(September 2, 2018) New Trailer (#2) / New Posters (#2-#18)

Release Date:

October 5, 2018

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “Seven strangers, each with a secret to bury, meet at Lake Tahoe’s El Royale, a rundown hotel with a dark past. Over the course of one fateful night, everyone will have a last shot at redemption – before everything goes to hell.”

Poster Rating: B / B (8) / B- / C- (7) / C+

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Review: (#1) It has a certain charm, namely in its coloration. It’s a bit sparse, which is a problem, but it’s not an awful problem in this case.

(#2-#9) What’s most interesting about these eight character posters is that each is set in a different climate condition or time of day for each arrival, supposedly each giving some clue as to the character’s dispotion. (#10) The design has a bit of that ’70s period feel and puts the characters in an interesting balance of positions, though it’s not as strong as the first design. (#11-#17) A series of character posters that are undeniably bland, unexciting, and unappealing. (#18) This final design, bringing the characters together borrows on prior designs, but doesn’t do so that well.

Trailer Rating: B+ / B-

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Review: (#1) It’s hard to know exactly what to think about this film. The trailer starts out fairly straight forward and then dips into the bizarre with a relish reminiscent of David Lynch, which could be the entire intention.

(#2) There was a mysterious flow to the first trailer that seems absent in this trailer. Whether that’s the fact that familiarity breeds contempt or if the design just doesn’t feel as exciting as it could have.