Bad Times At The El Royale Review: 6 Ups & 2 Downs

3. The Central Mystery Is Consistently Engrossing

We'll keep specifics to a minimum here, but the movie certainly does a fantastic job keeping the audience intrigued with the central mystery: who the hell are these people and what are they all doing at this remote hotel?

This is of course a broad enigma which leads to countless reveals over the course of the movie, and Goddard clearly relishes slow-bleeding the information throughout the epic runtime.

Often these surprises just end up raising more questions, though, allowing Goddard to keeping changing-up the intrigue and sustaining audience investment all the way to the finish line.

While one mysterious plot thread might feel a little too Tarantino-esque for its own good - regarding a sex tape featuring an unknown celebrity - for the most part the sprawling guessing game is a blast to watch unfold.