The numerous subplots and character arcs could have easily turned into a jumbled, gimmicky mess, but Goddard maintains tight control and direction throughout. Writer-director Drew Goddard makes masterfully effective use of flashbacks and scenes replayed from different characters’ points of view to tell a gripping and unexpectedly complex tale. No one is quite what they seem, and secrets are slowly revealed over the course of one tumultuous night. Set in the late 1960s, Bad Times at the El Royale tells the story of a disparate group of strangers who come to stay at a once thriving hotel-casino straddling the Nevada-California border.
