‘The Royal Hotel’ Worked for Me
But your mileage may vary.
The Royal Hotel follows two young women, Hanna (Julia Garner) and Liv (Jessica Henwick), as they work at a remote Australian pub to earn some extra cash while on vacation.
This is directed and co-written by Kitty Green, who also wrote and directed The Assistant. When I saw that this was another team-up of Green and Garner, I knew that I had to watch this movie.
Kitty Green has clearly proven her skill in creating tension in seemingly mundane or normal situations. In The Assistant, you watch an assistant going about her day. In The Royal Hotel, these two young women take a job at a pub. Sure, the regulars are a bit eclectic, but they appear to be fairly harmless.
Still, despite the seemingly normal situations the film depicts, you can’t help but feel this sense of foreboding. Long before either female protagonist senses the danger, I was concerned for their safety. This is one of those films where you know something will go wrong, but you’re just not sure when. And that unshakeable sense of impending dread kept me on the edge of my seat.
The Royal Hotel features a great performance from Julia Garner (she does not miss), and Jessica Henwick is a great compliment to her. These two characters are so different from each other, and each actress gives…
