“Bad Times at the El Royale” is a really good watch. It is well-made and a movie very interesting to think about. It is not just entertaining but bigger ideas lure beneath the surface. I gave it a 6.8 out of 10 because there are better movies out there. However, I think it is a good film that illustrates very exciting themes. Be aware that this review contains spoilers. I advise you to watch the film first.

For this movie, I do not have a theory per se. However, I believe to have identified two central themes throughout the film: Barrier and Truth. With this article, I want to explain why these two themes were apparent to me while watching “Bad Times at the El Royale”. What is more, I like to think that the fundamentals of the mechanisms described can be more generally applied to all kinds of different movies.

The Barriers

An obvious physical barrier is the state border in the middle of the hotel. The absurdity of this fictional (but drawn) border is shown by the different laws concerning alcohol consumption and the different prices in the two states. Another physical barrier in the film is the limitation of the gaze by small squares or windows. Generally, the camera itself restricts what can be seen and frames the viewer’s gaze purposefully. 

Fittingly, there is a pronounced barrier to the movie-watcher. The scene in the room of the sisters only gradually unfolds and reveals itself. More and more perspectives of the situation are shown and thus the full picture is only gradually illuminated. The confined story changes with different viewpoints and the movie-watcher only knows what truly happened at the end of the process. This is a good representation of film-making and story-making in general.

A metaphysical barrier can be found between the observer and the observed in the movie. The one-way mirrors in every room illustrate this barrier nicely. The movie-watchers are aware of the transparent property of the rooms. The director chose to let them know. Still, within the movie, only the observer standing behind the one-way mirror knows of the barrier-like property.

Lastly, the leader of the hippies makes use of a metaphysical barrier. He contrasts opposites like „Good - Bad“ or „Right - Wrong“ and draws fictional lines to differentiate between the in-group and out-group. Of course, the group of hippies always gets a favorable position. Additionally, the leader of the hippies decides that „Red or Black“ in Roulette shall rule about the fate of the characters („Life or Death“). He draws strong barriers of opposing nature and uses them to his convenience.

Breaking through

Breaking through these barriers is the natural consequence of the movie. For example, doors that are barriers are often bypassed: The camera seamlessly switches between inside and outside. Moreover, Agent Laramie violently kicks in the door to the room of the sisters.

Also, Emily uses her shotgun to (accidentally) shoot through the one-way mirror. She unintentionally breaks the barrier between observer and observed. Even before, characters seem to look through the one-way mirror and directly into the eyes of the observer as if there was no barrier between the two. This can also be interpreted as a disregard for this barrier.

Furthermore, the scene in the room of the sisters and the accompanying reveal of the situation breaks the barrier (confined view) imposed by the director.

Lastly, even the metaphysical barriers by the hippie leader are not accepted and thus broken: Darlene uses the hippie’s game of opposites against him. She places herself in the role of the victim - The hippie leader now becomes the oppressor in his own world view. His barriers and differentiations dissolve and it becomes apparent that the leader of the hippies talks much but doesn’t say (mean) anything. He draws barriers without any substance and finally falls victim to his own game of contraries - His barriers are used against him.

Truth

I define „Truth“ in this context as subjective truth that contrasts reality. Truth is not right or wrong but rather truthful to the person in question. It changes and is adapted throughout the movie.

On the one hand, the truth gets exposed and unmasked: The leader of the hippies experiences Darlene’s truth and the corridor behind the one-way reveals the truth about the hotel. The truth enlightens the characters about reality.

On the contrary, the truth is veiled: the film roll with incriminating recordings and the list of all hotel guests both get burned. Manifestations of reality are thus deleted before the truth can come to light. Without this necessary truth, reality is unimportant.

As a sidenote: The film roll is the exact opposite of the sled in „Citizen Kane“. Only the viewer gets to know the meaning behind „Rosebud“ but only the characters get to know the content and recordings on the film roll.

Furthermore, the barrier-breaking process in the room of the sisters is at the same time a process of truth-finding. By adding more perspectives (truths) to the mix, the situation becomes clearer. Reality only shows itself after all truths have been taken into account.

In conclusion, the hotel serves the purpose of capturing reality and then threatening to present it to the public – making it a universal truth. All rooms are bugged and cameras behind the one-way mirrors record what is happening. However, the hotel cannot threaten to expose reality without the necessary truth (in the form of evidence).

Reality

Reality has nothing to do with truth in the film. For example, the reality captured on the film roll is not yet a universal truth - The content on the film roll would need to be published. What is more, the scene of the bank robbery by Daniel shows the thieves hiding their car. They want to hide reality by presenting another truth (or in this case a lie).

On the other hand, truth does influence reality to a great extent. The truth a person believes drastically changes their reality in the movie. A different believed truth determines reality. Miles becomes an ice-cold and highly effective killer after he believes (the truth) that he is a sniper. His whole demeanor as well as his skillset changes – he is no longer the scared, drug-addicted boy he used to be. Lastly, Miles‘ confession shows that reality can be changed by adopting another truth. Daniel is no priest but elects himself to be one, which leads to a seemingly real confession.

Lastly, chance is one of the ways to determine reality in the movie. The coin flip by the priest decides his room and Roulette decides over „Life and Death“ for Emily. Interestingly, chance decides the worse outcome in both scenarios: The priest ends up in the wrong room and Emily gets killed.