“Goddard delineates his film from its influences by focusing almost exclusively on character. Rather than a story filled with twists and turns and manipulation of the audience, ‘Bad Times at the El Royale’ presents each character’s story as a solo vignette, before tying it into the overarching drama.”
“Through all of these corny musical numbers, the rom-com scenarios, and the outrageous ‘I Love Lucy’ levels of scheming, I find myself relating to Rebecca against the odds.”
“At a certain point, and you’ll know when, the dialogue takes a dramatic turn; it’s almost as if Benson decided to use every pre-production joke centered around a most obvious plot point.”