In 1969, Catholic priest Daniel Flynn, singer Darlene Sweet, salesman Laramie Seymour Sullivan, and the sarcastic Emily Summerspring arrive at the El Royale, where they meet the hotel’s only employee, Miles Miller. Upon checking into the honeymoon suite, Sullivan (in reality an FBI agent named Dwight Broadbeck, sent to remove illegal surveillance equipment of unknown origin in one of the rooms) discovers a passageway leading into a corridor looking onto one-way mirrors in each of the hotel’s rooms, as well as a 16mm camera setup. Broadbeck witnesses an apparent kidnapping in progress in Emily’s room; he is instructed not to interfere with the kidnapping, and to sabotage the guests’ vehicles to prevent any of them from escaping.
Meanwhile, Flynn invites Sweet to join him for dinner. She sees him spiking her drink and knocks him unconscious with a bottle, running out of the hotel to escape. Miles finds Flynn and reveals to him the secret passageway, afterwards explaining that “management” has instructed him to film the guests and send the footage to them. However, he chose to hold back one particularly incriminating film reel of a recently deceased public figure.
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm, Cailee Spaeny, Lewis Pullman, Chris Hemsworth,
