As cold, gray and cramped as THE ASSISTANT was, Kitty Green's excellent film about the abuse of power of a Weinstein-like Hollywood producer, her subsequent THE ROYAL HOTEL surprises with an almost opposite setting. This time the Australian takes on the sun-drenched outback of her home country, where the heat is unbearable even in the winter and the barren landscape as well as the starry sky reaches further than the eye can see. Yet both films don’t just have Julia Garner as the protagonist, they also have a comparable premise, they’re both about young women having to navigate a fundamentally toxic, male-dominated environment in which every decision may have fatal consequences.

Canadians Hanna (Julia Garner) and her friend Liv (Jessica Henwick) are backpacking across Australia and partying in Sydney until their money runs out. Their only option of legally earning money is to work at a pub called The Royal Hotel in a small mining town far away from civilization, where cell reception and wifi are scarce commodities. Almost entirely surrounded by men who are almost always drunk, sweaty, and offensive, from their boss (Hugo Weaving) to the most peaceful guest, Hanna feels uncomfortable from the first day on, sensing the underlying threat in every joke.

With impressive precision and striking soberness, Green captures an oppressive, vivid atmosphere and focuses her clear gaze on everyday behavioral patterns, the questioning of which is as urgent as it is timely. Like in her previous film, this creates tension that is almost unbearable but doesn’t slip into classic thriller patterns. And Julia Garner is fantastic yet again.

Patrick Heidmann

Translation: Elinor Lewy