--- title: "The Royal Hotel" year: 2023 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-royal-hotel" fi1m_id: "the-royal-hotel" imdb_id: "tt18363072" tmdb_id: 944952 wikidata_id: "Q120887436" fi1m_score: 74 critics_score: 76 critics_reviews: 17 published: "2026-09-10" updated: "2026-09-18T08:38:04.750482+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Royal Hotel (2023) Directed by Kitty Green · 1h 31m · MPA R · Drama, Thriller ## Identity The Royal Hotel - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/the-royal-hotel - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** the-royal-hotel - **IMDb ID:** tt18363072 - **TMDB ID:** 944952 - **Wikidata ID:** Q120887436 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18363072/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/944952, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q120887436 **Fi1m score: 74** · Critics 76 from 17 reviews *In a sentence:* Pour the drinks, smile at the jokes, and count the exits > Kitty Green’s outback thriller is at its best when nothing is quite happening: two backpackers behind a bar, a room of men, and the question of which one to worry about. It is tightly made for an hour and then loses its nerve. Still worth your evening. ## Synopsis Hanna (Julia Garner) and Liv (Jessica Henwick) are American backpackers who take a few weeks’ work behind the bar of the Royal Hotel, the pub in a remote Australian mining town. Billy (Hugo Weaving) is the owner and Carol (Ursula Yovich) keeps the place running. The regulars, including Dolly (Daniel Henshall), Matty (Toby Wallace) and Teeth (James Frecheville), take an interest in the new girls at once. Hanna wants to leave on the first night. Liv thinks it is all part of the trip. Kitty Green directs from a script she wrote with Oscar Redding, drawing on the documentary *Hotel Coolgardie*. ## Review Hanna (Julia Garner) and Liv (Jessica Henwick) are American backpackers who take the only work going: a few weeks behind the bar of the Royal Hotel, the pub in a remote Australian mining town. Billy (Hugo Weaving) is the owner. Carol (Ursula Yovich) keeps the place running. Kitty Green, who made *The Assistant* with Garner, has taken her setup from *Hotel Coolgardie*, a 2016 documentary, and turned it into a thriller about being watched. For an hour it is as tense as anything we have seen in the genre. Then it has to end, and it does not quite know how. Leah Popple’s pub looks like a real one: cracked tiles, a jukebox, stickers on the fridge, an upstairs bedroom with a lock that would not keep out a determined child. Michael Latham shoots the interior in brown half-light and the outside as white glare, so every time the door opens the frame burns out. The regulars arrive one at a time and the film lets us sort them. Dolly (Daniel Henshall) sits at the end of the bar and does not smile. Matty (Toby Wallace) is young and keen and probably fine. Teeth (James Frecheville) is large and shy and hard to read. Torsten (Herbert Nordrum), a traveller passing through, is the nearest thing to safe company. Green’s trick is that we are never sure we have sorted them right. We spent most of the first hour with our jaw set, and the thing that did it was not a threat. It was a laugh. A joke goes round the bar that Hanna has not been let in on, the men roar, and Green holds on Garner while she works out whether to smile. Garner plays Hanna with her shoulders up and her eyes on the exits. Henwick’s Liv thinks it is all a bit of fun and says so, and the film is about the gap between the two women as much as about the men. Weaving is doing the hardest job in it: Billy is a mess rather than a monster, and Weaving lets him be pathetic and dangerous in the same scene without asking us to choose. Jed Palmer’s score barely exists, and that is right. The pub is the score: bottles, the jukebox, a room of men laughing at once. Kasra Rassoulzadegan cuts the shifts into a rhythm, pour, laugh, wipe, lock up, so we learn the routine and feel the moment it breaks. Mariot Kerr’s costumes do quiet work too. Hanna covers up, Liv does not, and the men comment on both, which is the point. The trouble is Liv. Henwick is good, but the script gives her one setting, cheerful and careless, and keeps her there long past the point where anyone would have caught on. We are told the two are old friends and never shown why. Then come the last twenty minutes, which we will not describe except to say the film stops watching and starts doing. It is well staged. It is also the first stretch where we could guess the next shot, and where Green, who has spent an hour refusing to tell us what to think, tells us. Several critics found the finish cathartic. We found it tidy. *The Assistant* was a film in which nothing happened and it was unbearable. *The Royal Hotel* is louder, faster and easier to sit through, and a little less frightening for it. The best scenes here are still the ones closest to that earlier film: a man leaning over a bar an inch too far, a request that is not quite a request. It runs 91 minutes and carries an 18 certificate, which we think is about right. If you have ever worked a bar you will recognise most of it and wish you did not. See it, and argue about the ending on the way home. *Fi1m score 74, published 10 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics like The Royal Hotel, and the spread is narrow: no outright negative reviews, and the doubters are lukewarm rather than hostile. The praise clusters around two things. The first is Julia Garner, whose watchful, tightly controlled performance is singled out in almost every review, with Jessica Henwick and Hugo Weaving getting steady if quieter credit. The second is Kitty Green’s handling of dread, the way small indignities in a remote outback pub accumulate until violence feels a breath away, which several critics call gripping and a few call close to unbearable. The reservations cluster around the last act and the two women themselves. The Hollywood Reporter finds the climax mechanical rather than cathartic, Vulture thinks the central friendship goes underexplored, and Sight and Sound judges it a less subtle film than Green’s earlier The Assistant. Little White Lies is the coolest voice, finding it harrowing but not as deeply unsettling as hoped. ## Straight answers **Is The Royal Hotel worth watching?** *The Royal Hotel* is worth watching for anyone who likes a thriller built on being watched rather than chased, and we scored it 74. Kitty Green keeps the first hour as tense as anything in the genre, with Julia Garner and Hugo Weaving both doing careful work. The last twenty minutes are tidier and more predictable than what came before. **How long is The Royal Hotel, and what is it rated?** *The Royal Hotel* runs 1h 31m and is rated R by the MPA in the US. It is a drama and thriller film. **Where can I watch The Royal Hotel in the US?** *The Royal Hotel* is streaming on Hulu and Disney+ in the US, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video from $3.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service. **How violent or frightening is The Royal Hotel, and is it suitable for children?** *The Royal Hotel* carries an 18 certificate in the UK and is not suitable for children. Most of its menace is in leering, drink and jokes that go round a bar without the women being let in on them; the threat is sustained rather than gory until a more violent final stretch. Anyone who has worked behind a bar may find it uncomfortably familiar. **How does The Royal Hotel compare to Wake in Fright?** *The Royal Hotel* is the gentler and more contemporary of the two: Kitty Green's film watches men watching women, while [*Wake in Fright*](https://film.one/film/wake-in-fright) drags its hero into their company and does not let him out. The older film is the more frightening and the less forgiving, and it demands a warning for real animal cruelty. Green's is easier to sit through and tighter in its first hour. **What should I watch after The Royal Hotel?** After *The Royal Hotel*, try [*Wake in Fright*](https://film.one/film/wake-in-fright) (1971, Fi1m 86): The outback pub as trap, fifty years earlier, and far less forgiving. Then [*The Assistant*](https://film.one/film/the-assistant) (2019, Fi1m 81): Green and Garner’s first film together: one office, one day, no raised voices. ### Reviews we read (25) - **Evening Standard**, Hanna Flint (85/100, inferred): The critic hails the film as a searing comment on contemporary gender politics that simmers with oppressive testosterone before boiling over into cathartic female rage. It is skilfully told and exquisitely performed, with Julia Garner's hyper-vigilant portrayal singled out amid the nervy tension and explosive finale. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/the-royal-hotel-film-review-kitty-green-b1115941.html) - **The Guardian** (85/100, inferred): The critic calls the film brilliant and nerve-shredding, praising Kitty Green's follow-up to The Assistant for its tense depiction of a woman's perspective in a threatening male-dominated setting. They highlight Julia Garner's superb performance and the film's smart, understated psychological thriller elements amid the outback bar atmosphere. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/nov/04/the-royal-hotel-review-nerve-shredding-outback-thriller-kitty-green-julia-garrner-jessica-henwick-the-assistant) - **Variety**, Amy Nicholson (Critics Pick): The critic calls it an ulcer-inducing thriller that uses genre conventions to sharpen awareness of toxic dynamics everywhere, based on a real documentary. She praises the director's control in making every scene gripping and pointed without feeling hectoring, highlighting the leads' performances. [Read](https://variety.com/2023/film/reviews/the-royal-hotel-review-1235725329/) - **Empire**, Sophie Butcher (80/100, inferred): The critic calls it a slight but mightily effective adrenaline rush of a movie that delivers powerful performances and precise direction from Kitty Green while building stomach-churning dread. The unsettling atmosphere of the remote mining pub and the controlled, convincing lead turn by Julia Garner are highlighted as the tension escalates. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/the-royal-hotel/) - **Los Angeles Times**, Jessica Kiang (80/100, inferred): The critic describes the film as a queasily gripping thriller exposing familiar dread through a taxonomy of male aggression in an isolated outback bar. She singles out its precise recreation of situations that make viewers judge the women's choices while highlighting varied toxic behaviors. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-10-06/the-royal-hotel-review-julia-garner-jessica-henwick-kitty-green) - **The Telegraph** (4/5): The review describes the film as a chilling, gripping slow-burn thriller about two backpackers in a menacing outback pub, crediting strong performances especially from Hugo Weaving and the young Australian cast. It notes the film's effective build of unease drawn from real-life inspirations. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/the-royal-hotel-review/) - **Time Out** (4/5): Two backpackers face a tense standoff with boozy blokes in an outback pub thriller that heightens the risk through its Australian setting. The film traces a line from classic outback shockers while Garner anchors the off-kilter tone effectively. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-royal-hotel-2023) - **The Independent**, Mark Kennedy (3/4): The critic finds the film a subtle, captivating psychological thriller about two American backpackers facing toxic masculinity in a remote Australian pub, but advises not to linger too long in its discomforting atmosphere. It builds tension through accumulating indignities and a pessimistic view of gender relations, with strong performances from the leads. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/ap-american-australia-julia-garner-jessica-henwick-b2424071.html) - **Radio Times**, Amber Wilkinson (70/100, inferred): American backpackers take bar jobs in the outback serving a male-dominated clientele that dishes out toxic masculinity. Director Kitty Green stokes an atmosphere where microaggressions add up and violence always feels imminent, though the second half strains credibility. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-27bbmo/the-royal-hotel/) - **Vulture** (70/100, inferred): The thriller builds secondhand-hangover tension through the women's constant recalibration in male spaces, proving effective if messier and less devastating than Green's prior work, though the central friendship feels underexplored. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2023/10/the-royal-hotel-will-give-you-a-secondhand-hangover.html) - **Little White Lies**, Mark Asch (4/3/3): Green delivers more cinema of ominous discomfort in an out-of-the-way Australian boozer with low-boiling violence. It is harrowing but does not burrow under the skin as deeply as hoped, with a schematic contrast between the protagonists and a cathartic third-act escalation. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/the-royal-hotel) - **IndieWire**, David Ehrlich: Green re-teams with Garner for a pulpier, more explosive tale of the male gaze and workplace abuse in the outback, where the two backpackers navigate constant threat from drunken miners. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/the-royal-hotel-review-1234902016/) - **Screen Daily**: Kitty Green delivers a further devastating drama on toxic masculinity as two female friends discover how inhospitable the Australian Outback can be. It is an unsettling psychological thriller in which the possibility of violence looms heavily, with strong work from the lead actresses. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-royal-hotel-toronto-review/5185693.article) - **Sight and Sound**: The film builds a queasy, swampy atmosphere around two American backpackers working in a remote Australian pub as the threat of violence grows. It examines what women are willing to put up with for politeness, livelihood and safety in a less subtle follow-up to The Assistant. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/royal-hotel-backpacking-adventure-turns-toxic-kitty-greens-quiet-thriller) - **Slant Magazine**, Gregory Nussen: Green's dread-inducing vision keeps viewers on a knife's edge amid constant threat of violence in the outback bar, using sonic and horror tropes to convey the deadening effect of sexual abuse with diamond-hard precision. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-royal-hotel-review-julia-garner-jessica-henwick-kitty-green/) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Sheri Linden: The film delivers a pummeling experience of dread overload in a remote outback pub, with strong performances from Garner and Henwick as friends facing escalating menace, but the climax feels mechanical rather than cathartic. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-royal-hotel-review-julia-garner-jessica-henwick-kitty-green-1235580854/) - **The New York Times**, Jeannette Catsoulis (NYT Critic’s Pick): The critic finds the film a coolly calibrated thriller in which two young women bartend in a remote Australian pub amid menacing male patrons. She praises the pervasive mood of clammy menace created through language and setting, along with strong performances from the leads. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/05/movies/the-royal-hotel-review.html) - **The Wrap** (85/100, inferred): The critic calls it a riveting thriller in which Green flexes her genre muscles, with strong performances from Julia Garner and Jessica Henwick. The review highlights the unnerving atmosphere, male entitlement, and an explosive ending fueled by female rage. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/the-royal-hotel-review-kitty-green-ulia-garner/) - **Deadline**, Pete Hammond (80/100, inferred): The critic praises the shift in style from Green’s previous film and lauds the performances by Garner, Henwick, and Weaving along with the pitch-perfect atmosphere. It notes the film’s effective handling of escalating drama and tension around male behavior without painting all men as monsters. [Read](https://deadline.com/2023/09/the-royal-hotel-review-julia-garner-jessica-fenwick-kitty-green-toronto-film-festival-1235543488/) - **HeyUGuys**, Lisa Giles-Keddie (4/5): The film is a tense drama exploring toxic masculinity and isolation as two backpackers take a bar job in a remote outback pub. Garner excels as the watchful Hanna navigating escalating threats and survival choices. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/the-royal-hotel-review/) - **/Film**, Barry Levitt (7.5/10): Kitty Green delivers a nerve-shredding thriller about two women facing escalating dangers while working in an isolated outback bar. The film effectively amps up themes of entitlement and toxicity with strong performances, especially from Weaving. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/1397180/the-royal-hotel-review-tiff-2023/) - **Collider**, Isabella Soares (C+): Julia Garner delivers an immersive performance capturing a guarded woman, while Jessica Henwick's character lacks depth. The set design and cinematography create a chilling atmosphere, and the film highlights challenges women face in a male-dominated world, but it falls short on developing characters and motivations, making the ending bittersweet. [Read](https://collider.com/the-royal-hotel-review/) - **Eye for Film**, Amber Wilkinson (60/100, inferred): Green returns to themes of toxic masculinity in a tense outback setting where microaggressions keep characters on edge. The mood is gripping but the women's relationship strains believability and some elements feel overly familiar. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/the-royal-hotel-2023-film-review-by-amber-wilkinson) - **Paste**, Andy Crump (8.5): Kitty Green's film explores misogyny and cultural clashes in an Australian outback pub through two backpackers' experiences, highlighting normalized harassment but offering a somewhat upbeat resolution compared to her previous work. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/kitty-green/the-royal-hotel-review) - **The Playlist**, Gregory Ellwood (C+/B-): Garner impresses in a simmering thriller about misogyny and culture clash in a remote Australian pub. The film builds tension effectively but leaves too much ambiguous and falters in its final act. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/the-royal-hotel-review-julia-garner-impresses-in-aussie-outback-thriller-telluride-20230907/) ## Details - **Director:** Kitty Green - **Director:** Kitty Green - **Writer:** Kitty Green, Oscar Redding - **Cinematography:** Michael Latham - **Editor:** Kasra Rassoulzadegan - **Music:** Jed Palmer - **Production design:** Leah Popple - **Costume design:** Mariot Kerr - **Producer:** Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Liz Watts - **Cast:** Julia Garner as Hanna; Jessica Henwick as Liv; Hugo Weaving as Billy; Daniel Henshall as Dolly; Ursula Yovich as Carol; Toby Wallace as Matty; James Frecheville as Teeth; Herbert Nordrum as Torsten - **Runtime:** 1h 31m - **Certificate (MPA):** R - **Release (the US):** 6 October 2023 - **Genres:** Drama, Thriller - **Box office:** $1 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9zq_4ED-pI ## Where to watch in the US - Hulu: streaming, uhd - Disney+: add-on, uhd - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, uhd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $12.99, uhd *Checked 2026-09-10.* Also available in: AT, BE, CA, DE, ES, FI, FR, GB, IE, IS, IT, NL, NZ, SE, US, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Wake in Fright* (1971), Fi1m 86: The outback pub as trap, fifty years earlier, and far less forgiving. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/wake-in-fright.md) - *Hotel Coolgardie* (2016): The documentary Green started from; the men are real and it is worse. - *The Assistant* (2019), Fi1m 81: Green and Garner’s first film together: one office, one day, no raised voices. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-assistant.md) - *Speak No Evil* (2022): A Danish holiday with new friends, and the cost of staying polite too long. - *Calibre* (2018): Two outsiders in a Highland village, one bad night, and the locals watching. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/the-royal-hotel