Directed By – Drew Pearce
Starring – Jodie Foster, Sterling K. Brown, Dave Bautista, Sofia Boutella, Jeff Goldblum, Brian Tyree Henry, Charlie Day, Jenny Slate, Zachary Quinto.
Hotel Artemis is a weird film when seeing the trailer it led me to believe this was going to be an action-heavy film but it was a futuristic, genre, drama with serviceable performances.
When a bank robbery goes wrong, two brothers with bullet wounds enter Hotel Artemis, a hospital for criminals, to keep them safe from the LA riots but they’re stuck with fellow patients who are more dangerous than anything outside.
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Firstly, I love the fact debutant director Pearce has set the film 10 years into the future of a post-Trump LA with chaos in the streets with the famous “wall” becoming a real thing and the privatisation of water.
Make no mistake that the first-time helmer pays a loving tribute to Robocop and Blade Runner while also bringing in old Hollywood in the form of the Artemis and Boutella looks like she came straight from the golden age.
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As for the performances, it’s Foster who leads the way with an incredible display. She balances the no-nonsense nurse and gatekeeper of Hotel Artemis with major sadness from mental health and PTSD hid in the form of keeping busy and drinking.
I found the way she shuffles her feet interesting like is there a reason behind it? Or Is it just because of old age? When you have gripped me like that then it shows you have great of a job Foster and Pearce did.
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Meanwhile, Goldblum’s appearance of The Wolf of LA is brief but also well done. This is the sort of thing I like Goldblum doing when he’s more serious and dangerous to the point this might be one of my favourite performances by him.
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As for the other cast members, they’re serviceable. Which is a shame because I like Brown and Henry and would’ve loved to see more from both of them. Day basically shouts and swears, Boutella is the dangerous and badass femme fatal and Bautista is just the big dude but does deliver some dark humous moments.
Elsewhere, the design of the hotel/hospital is beautiful and mixes different things from the neon sign, the blood-stained cushions and the 1920 wall paints is a well-used backdrop against this dystopian future.
However, the film suffers from being down the middle road and characters don’t get a lot to do and with one character, in particular, not getting an ending.
While the film does not need a sequel I’d actually like to see more from this future Peace has created with a backstory to the privatisation of water, the beginnings of the riots and what is happening in other major US/World cities like New York, Mexico, Berlin, Moscow etc.
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Finally, I don’t know if I can say see it in the cinema as it’s more of a relax at home film, but if (I) want more this future then go to your local cinema and check it out.
Verdict
A stellar performance from Jodie Foster and an interesting idea from debut director Drew Pearce, Hotel Artemis is an entertaining sci-fi film with some serviceable support.
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