Bad Times at the El Royale

"Set in the disenchanted late 1960s, Bad Times at the El Royale splits its narrative between the four shady characters who each converge at the motel of the same name one rainy night: down on her luck lounge singer Darlene (Cynthia Erivo); unsavoury salesman Seymour (Jon Hamm); a doddery old priest (Jeff Bridges); and a femme fatale hippie doing her best to remain anonymous (Dakota Johnson)."

""Bad Times" isn't very good."

"Bags of fun. Goddard and his cast have a riot in a thriller that dances to its own beat."

"With a sharper and cleverer pair of hands in the edit suite, and maybe a critical friend to really interrogate the screenplay, I reckon Bad Times at the El Royale could have joined the classics Goddard is so obviously in thrall of."

"Set in a 1969 Vegas hotel, Drew Goddard's retro whatzit could have been creepier, wittier, sharper and had a payoff that actually paid off, but there are enough twisted delights (yay, Cynthia Erivo!) to make you consider checking in."

"A strong cast helps this Tarantino-esque thriller patch over its more disappointing qualities."

"The standout is Erivo, who will next be seen in Steve McQueen's thriller "Widows" and whose performance here is revelatory in the most rewarding sense."

"More of a slog than it has any right to be, the artifice turned up so high that it overwhelms the story instead of igniting it."

"The performances are superb, the direction sublime, and the soundtrack to kill for."

"A beautifully staged film with everything is in its place, this is both an affectionate homage and a timely commentary, falling only slightly short of its own ambition. Classy pulp fiction."