A year and a half has gone by since it was announced that Julia Garner (Ozark) and Jessica Henwick (The Matrix Resurrections) had signed on to star in The Royal Hotel, an Australian production that was being described as a “social thriller”. The project was a reunion for Garner and director Kitty Green, as they had previously worked together on Green’s feature directorial debut, the 2019 drama The Assistant. The Royal Hotel has since made its way through production and had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival – and now it’s ready to be seen by a wider audience. NEON will be giving the film a theatrical release on October 6th, and today a trailer has dropped online. You can check it out in the embed above.
Also starring Hugo Weaving (The Matrix) and said to be inspired by true events, The Royal Hotel follows Hanna (Garner) and Liv (Henwick), two best friends backpacking in Australia. After they run out of money, Liv, looking for an adventure, convinces Hanna to take a temporary live-in job behind the bar of a pub called The Royal Hotel in a remote Outback mining town. Bar owner Billy (Weaving) and a host of locals give the girls a riotous introduction to Down Under drinking culture, but things turn nasty when their jokes and behavior cross the line. Soon Hanna and Liv find themselves trapped in an unnerving situation that grows rapidly out of their control.
Toby Wallace (Babyteeth), Ursula Yovich (Mystery Road), Daniel Henshall (The Snowtown Murders), James Frecheville (Animal Kingdom), and Herbert Nordrum (The Worst Person in the World) are in the cast as well.
The Royal Hotel was produced by See-Saw Films’ Emile Sherman, Iain Canning, and Liz Watts, along with Kath Shelper of Scarlett Pictures. See-Saw Films’ Simon Gillis serves as executive producer.
When the project was first announced, Green said, “Like we saw with The Assistant, The Royal Hotel will get under the skin of audiences, bringing a sense of adrenaline and edge of seat compulsion to watch.“
What did you think of the trailer? Are you interested in letting The Royal Hotel get under your skin? Let us know by leaving a comment below.