Film Review: The Royal Hotel is a courageously offbeat thriller

"Written by Oscar Redding and Kitty Green, with Green directing, The Royal Hotel is an understated affair where the threat level against [protagonists] Hanna and Liv gradually ramps up from scene to scene..."

Julia Garner and Jessica Henwick star in The Royal Hotel

• The Royal Hotel
• ★★★★☆
• Cinema release

The Royal Hotel (16s) begins with American students Hanna (Julia Garner) and Liv (Jessica Henwick) backpacking around Australia.

When Liv runs out of cash in Sydney, the women reluctantly take a temporary job in the bar of the Royal Hotel, a pub deep in the remote Outback run by Billy (Hugo Weaving) that serves a largely male mining population. 

It is, as Liv wryly observes, ‘a different culture’, and the men are a diverse bunch too, from the smooth-talking Matty (Toby Wallace) to the more intense Teeth (James Frecheville) to the decidedly sinister Dolly (Daniel Henshall).

Julia Garner stars in The Royal Hotel

The only question that matters, of course, is whether or not they’re dangerous. 

Written by Oscar Redding and Kitty Green, with Green directing, The Royal Hotel is an understated affair where the threat level against Hanna and Liv gradually ramps up from scene to scene, even if the fun-loving Liv and the more cautious Hanna don’t always see eye-to-eye on the difference between boisterous fun, beer-fuelled boorishness and potentially lethal toxic masculinity.

Julia Garner and Jessica Henwick are strong in the leading roles, and there’s a terrific supporting performance from Toby Wallace as the ruggedly handsome Kylie fan Matty, while the story’s refusal to pander to stereotypes and genre expectations results in a courageously offbeat psychological thriller.