The Royal Hotel (4½ Stars)

Last week I wanted to see this film, but I changed my mind at the last moment because it was too cold. Have I toughened up now? Not really. Last week the weather was -5C, and today it's +9C. Would I have gone to the cinema if it had still been as cold? I'd like to say Yes, but I'd rather be honest and say that I don't know.

What I can say with certainty is that I'm glad I went today. The film is amazing. Don't believe people who say that Australian films suck. "The Royal Hotel" is a film worth seeing in any weather.

Two young girls, Hanna and Liv, are on holiday in Australia. They're Americans, but they pretend to be Canadian because Canadians are more popular. Is that true? When they arrive they're in a mess, because Hanna's credit card doesn't work and Liv has only brought a small amount of cash. Rather than cut their holiday short, they look for a job to pay their way. They're sent to a bar in a remote mining town in the Australian outback. The bar's name, "Royal Hotel", is bizarrely ironic. The men in the town are uncouth and sexist. The girls have to fight off unwanted advances every day.

The film doesn't have much of a plot. It just meanders from one mishap to the next. Normally that would be bad, but in this case it suits the film. The girls wake up every day, not knowing what will happen next. Hanna manages to keep the men out of her bed, but Liv is different. Liv discovers that if she's drunk enough the men are pleasant. Liv thinks the men are harmless idiots, whereas Hanna thinks that some of them are dangerous. Which one is right?

Wikipedia states that the film is inspired by true events, but the page's author fails to say what events he's talking about. Not every Wikipedia page lives up to the same standard. True or not, the film is staggering. Very few people went to see it. Including myself, only eight of the 220 seats were occupied. Someone should drag people away from Netflix and into the cinema. It wasn't too cold today, so they have no excuse.