Brief thoughts on Hotel Artemis.

Figured I'd go ahead and churn something out real quick for this movie. Imagine John Wick, but the film took place entirely within The Continental, and you have a pretty good idea of what to expect of Hotel Artemis from Drew Pearce. Set within a futuristic riot-torn Los Angeles, the film centers on the caretakers and the revolving patients of the Hotel Artemis, an underground hospital for criminals with paid memberships, with strict rules of non-violence within the premises. As the busy night of rounds unfolds, those rules will be broken as the night reaches a brutal finale.

The Artemis is not a place where backstory is in great supply, as much of the residents tend to keep to themselves without letting others in on their secrets and how they ended up where they are, creating a perpetually strong sense of distrust and tension as each interaction brings these eclectic personalities to their breaking point. And what personalities they are, with Sofia Boutella's femme fatale with a shaky moral compass, Sterling K. Brown as the conflicted man who finds it hard to get away, to Charlie Day's testy hothead intently provoking outrage, as if the claustrophobic proximity of the hospital wing wasn't enough to drive a bleeding person mad, just wait to see what happens when locked alongside other equally vicious sorts.

Holding them all together is Jodie Foster's Nurse, the one voice of reason to an otherwise brutal work environment, who fits in all too well within the shadiness of the patients, given her own past she intends to ignore and run away from, with only Dave Bautista's loyal muscle and orderly to keep her spirits up. This is an impressive batch of actors the film makes use of, that effortlessly work off of each other through all the deceit and games, even finding room for Jeff Goldblum, Zachary Quinto, and an admittedly underused Jenny Slate, with the tension only building and building until the film explodes in its final act. While its ending leaves something to be desired, and can get indulgent, I still think this was a compelling watch with some solid entertainment value, and is even a nice deviation from the typical Summer season lineup.


***1/2 / *****