Bad Times at the El Royale
Twentieth Century Fox | Release Date: October 12, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 43 Critic Reviews
Positive:
23
Mixed:
16
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
CineVueMichael MazzantiOct 17, 2018
For every slick moment of style, there is an immensely somber undercurrent that matches its beating heart and occasional levity. Read full review
60
The Observer (UK)Simran HansOct 14, 2018
In its better moments, this studio oddity is a tense thriller, at its worst, draggy and self-indulgent. Read full review
60
Time OutPhil de SemlyenOct 12, 2018
As with his first directorial effort, the ace meta-horror The Cabin in the Woods, Goddard has a blast toying with genre expectations, although here the payoff is a lot less satisfying. Read full review
60
The New York TimesManohla DargisOct 11, 2018
Goddard keeps everything smoothly, ebbing and flowing as the characters separate and join together, but at some point during this logy 2-hour-and-21-minute exercise you want something more substantial than even Hemsworth’s admittedly mesmerizing snaky hips. Read full review
60
SlateInkoo KangOct 11, 2018
Until its resolution, Bad Times is a fun-enough romp through retro genre pleasures. But when it drags in the real world in its final scenes, it reveals itself to be just as fatuous as most such nostalgic pastiches tend to be. Read full review
60
Rolling StonePeter TraversOct 11, 2018
Here’s the thing about Bad Times at the El Royale: When it’s good, it’s very, very good — and when it’s bad, this retro whatsit is a whole lot of awful. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawOct 10, 2018
For all its twisty unexpectedness, it didn’t deliver a really satisfying denouement. The performances are interesting. Read full review
60
VoxAlissa WilkinsonOct 3, 2018
Part metaphorical (which it jokes about halfway through), part homage to old Hollywood, part whodunit, and part social commentary on an America reeling from mid-century chaos, it’s overstuffed but still feels controlled. Read full review
50
Vanity FairRichard LawsonOct 13, 2018
I remain as curious as ever to see what Goddard does next. But this film, for all its canny presentation, is a mishmash of compelling narrative premises clumsily fused together. It manages to be both overwrought and under-developed, disappointing less for what it is than for what it could have been. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleOct 13, 2018
The directorial talent is there. Now if he can just be persuaded to let someone else write the script next time, we might have something serious to talk about. Read full review
50
The Seattle TimesJ.R. KinnardOct 12, 2018
Themes exploring redemption and forgiveness fall flat because it’s impossible to empathize with these characters. Mostly, this is an exercise in style; a slick tribute to righteous trash that promises a lot more fun than it actually delivers. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinOct 12, 2018
Bad Times at the El Royale isn’t an event. But I was never too bored. Read full review
50
The Associated PressJake CoyleOct 10, 2018
Goddard’s film looks terrific and has all of the — as Hamm’s character would say with exaggerated Southern flare — “accoutrements” of an intoxicating slow-burn thriller, but none of the payoff. Read full review
50
VarietyPeter DebrugeSep 27, 2018
At two hours and 21 minutes, this 1969-set period thriller is taxingly slow and almost oppressively self-indulgent, constantly backtracking and replaying already-drawn-out scenes from multiple perspectives. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenSep 27, 2018
It's great to look at, nearly giddy with pop-culture love, and its particulars are intriguing. But those pieces — by turns weird, soulful and exhilarating — merely accumulate, when they should be generating magic. Read full review
40
ScreenCrushMatt SingerOct 1, 2018
Lots of mystery hangs in the air of the El Royale, but when all is said and done there aren’t a ton of surprises in Bad Times at the El Royale’s story, or the way that story is told. Even with a bunch of twists, things progress largely how you expect, only slower. Read full review
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