Americans Hanna and Liv are best friends backpacking in Australia. After they run out of money, they take a temporary live-in job behind the bar of a pub called ‘The Royal Hotel’ in a remote Outback mining town. Soon, Hanna and Liv find themselves trapped in an unnerving situation that grows rapidly out of their control. A film Kitty Green, starring Julia Garner, Jessica Henwick, Hugo Weaving, Ursula Yovich, Toby Wallace, James Frecheville, Daniel Henshall, and Herbert Nordrum.

Inspired by the documentary film Hotel Coolgardie, which depicts the real events of two Finnish girls who take jobs in a pub in the remote mining town of Coolgardie and find themselves in a trial of endurance.

Two best friends, Hanna (Julia Garner) and Liv (Jessica Henwick), who claims to be Canadian when asked, find themselves out of money while partying on a ship in Sydney, Australia, where Hanna is having a fling with Torsten (Herbert Nordrum), a Norwegian guy she just met.

Faced with the prospect of being stranded in Sydney without any money, they sign up for a work-and-travel program to continue their travels. Due to the last-minute nature of their application, they are assigned to a remote mining town, where they will work at a pub called the Royal Hotel. Hanna is initially apprehensive about being sent to the middle of nowhere, while Liv is excited to see kangaroos.

Upon arriving at their destination, they are picked up by Carol (Ursula Yovich), whose relationship with the owner of the Royal Hotel is somewhat ambiguous. Carol helps manage the pub and also works as a cook in its kitchen. After greeting them, she informs them that they will be staying in the second-floor rooms during their employment.

On their first night at the Royal Hotel, the pub is teeming with customers wildly celebrating the farewell party of two British women who preceded them. Hanna is troubled by the men’s treatment of the women and expresses her desire to leave. However, Liv persuades her to stay for a few weeks to earn enough money to continue their travels.

Later, they meet the owner, Billy (Hugo Weaving), who instructs them on the pub’s operations, including how to handle food orders in the kitchen, operate the unique cashier machine that uses color stickers instead of numbers, and serve regular customers such as Teeth (James Frecheville), who always receives a complimentary first beer.

THE ROYAL HOTEL is a psychological thriller that functions effectively on a certain level, but is likely to disappoint most thriller fans. The less one knows about the film, the more effectively it will creep under one’s skin. The awkward and frightening situations shift back and forth, creating an unsettling atmosphere of impending doom, but nothing truly happens until the film’s final moments. Daniel Henshall’s portrayal of Dolly is unsettlingly authentic, his eerie presence captivating all attention, leaving the viewer guessing his next move.

Julia Garner delivers a masterful performance as Hanna, a cautious woman versed in the effects of alcohol on people from firsthand experience with her own mother. She reacts naturally, albeit occasionally erratically, when faced with problematic situations, as any normal person would. In contrast, Liv, played by Jessica Henwick, is almost impossibly optimistic, to the point of seeming indifferent to Hanna’s feelings.

THE ROYAL HOTEL premiered at Telluride Film Festival on 1 September 2023. The film was theatrically released in the United States on 6 October, by NEON. It is scheduled to be theatrically released in United Kingdom on 3 November, and in Australia on 23 November.