Two friends escape their problems by going on a party cruise. When they disembark in Australia, the lack of funds to continue travelling leads to the need for temporary work. They both land in a village in the middle of nowhere, a small society made up of bored miners and alcoholics. They stay for a few weeks, tending bar. Tension grows between the outsiders and the locals.
Driven by alcohol, dust and paranoia, The Royal Hotel may evoke the Australian
outback of classics like Wake in Fright, but the proposal here is more politically pertinent
and astute: two young American friends travelling around Australia agree to work in a
remote pub serving a mining town. Mostly frequented by men, the atmosphere in the
pub is marked by casual sexism, misogynistic jokes and veiled hostility, and the girls deal with this differently – Hanna is uneasy; Liv thinks it’s normal. The film, which could easily have descended into an empty, classist exercise, is skilfully directed by Kitty Green, who explores excellently the psychological tension and microaggressions of everyday life in the pub. An urgent feminist thriller. (Bruno Pereira)
