Bad Times at the El Royale - Redefining Genres

Drew Goddard has proven that he is a creative and unique writer. With his new film Bad Times at the El Royale, his ambition and unique voice is very clear in this new Neo Noir/crime thriller (SPOILERS BELOW).

20th Century Fox

Plot:

Bad Times At The El Royale tells the story of seven strangers who stay the El Royale one night. Throughout the film, sinister twists and exploitations ensue. Drew Goddard's previous directorial debut Cabin in the Woods was a critical success for the filmmaker's career and now with Bad Times, his writing and directing styles have traveled from the satirical horror film to a Neo Noir. Some great examples of this is how the story reveals certain twists and character tropes we've seen before in countless films; Goddard acts on these tropes.

How Goddard redefines genres in Bad Times:

Classic genes like Crime and Film-Noirs were recurring genres in the 1950s and even in the 1960s. Post WWII genres acted upon social and political subjects, thus many crime and noirs acted on these matters. What Drew Goddard achieves in Bad Times is the ability to appreciate and modify the Noir and Crime genre. The following are ways he does this:

20th Century Fox

Controversy from the 1960s

The 1960s in America was the pinnacle of political controversies. From the JFK Files (more on that later) to the Vietnam War, Bad Times takes these subjects and applies them to the actual plot and characters. Miles Miller, played by Lewis Pullman, is a bell boy with a dark past. It is hinted throughout the film that he needs repentance for his soul. It's not until the 3rd act do we understand why. This reveal displays what war can do to someone and how their very soul can be tortured. The popular ideal for the Vietnam War was that the United States had no real reason to participate in the war, and Goddard presents this with one character and ultimately determines the fate of the character and story.

Another huge factor in the film was a tape. It's unclear to what the tape actually represents, but the biggest speculation is the affair between 35th US President John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe. However, this is only a speculation for the tape could be about anyone. Goddard leaves the audience to figure out what the tape could truly represent, if knowledgable about history.

Unique Spin on Film-Noir while respecting the past.

In classic Film-Noirs, our main protagonist would be a character with severe problems (alcoholism, depression, insomnia, etc.). In Bad Times, there are seven different characters that exemplify film-noir tropes. In the 1st act of the film, 'Father' Daniel Flynn is shown to be a character with a goal to retrieve a bag of money from one of the rooms in the hotel. Now, this is a cliche. "A mysterious man taking back whats his" is a cliche in the world of cinema. However, Goddard utilizes this cliche and created an entirely unique character in the film. We are able to sympathize his actions, which create a ripple effect for all the characters. That 'Undercover guy with a raincoat' is in this film as well; an iconic look for film-noirs. Jon Hamm plays an undercover government official sent to that hotel with a specific goal. This has also been done before. Hamm's character would be predicted to be the main protagonist of the film...until he's shot dead roughly 40 minutes into the film. This wise decision by Goddard was made to turn the tables on the audience, making the rest of the film completely unpredictable.

Bad Times at the El Royale is now on iTunes.