The Royal Hotel

Synopsis

Australian writer-director Kitty Green 'displays such a sure hand' (New York Times) filming for the first time in her native country, masterfully creating a subversive, and gripping thriller that thrums with imminent danger around every corner. The explosive feature also benefits from "flawless performances" (The Hollywood Reporter) from its leads, the "extraordinary" Julia Garner (Ozark series, The Assistant) and "an equally superb" Jessica Henwick (Glass Onion: A Knives Out Story).

Americans Hanna (Garner) and Liv (Henwick) are best friends backpacking in Australia. After they run out of money, Liv, looking for an adventure, convinces Hanna to take a temporary live-in job behind the bar of a pub called 'The Royal Hotel' in a remote Outback mining town. Bar owner Billy (Hugo Weaving) and a host of locals give the girls a riotous introduction to Down Under drinking culture but soon Hannah and Liv find themselves trapped in an unnerving situation that grows rapidly out of their control.

Based on the 2016 documentary Hotel Coolgardie, Green, and co-writer Oscar Redding's fictionalised adaptation is an "expertly calibrated" (Los Angeles Times) dissection of a culture that regards predatory masculinity as a fact of life.