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.
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