Hotel Mumbai (2018)

Director: Anthony Maras
Stars: Dev Patel, Armie Hammer, Nazanin Boniadi
Runtime: 123 minutes

Synopsis: The true story of the Taj Hotel terrorist attack in Mumbai. Hotel staff risk their lives to keep everyone safe as people make unthinkable sacrifices to protect themselves and their families.

Performances: 9/10
Screenplay: 8/10
Costumes/Makeup: 8/10
Editing: 8/10
Cinematography: 6/10
Score/Soundtrack: 6/10

Verdict: Based on the horrific assault on the Taj Hotel by a group of terrorists that resulted in the death of dozens of people back in 2008, "Hotel Mumbai" is an essential watch that both condemns these cowardly attacks and celebrates the bravery of the heroes who fought back.

Consider yourself warned. Maras' directorial debut is not an easy watch, especially when keeping in mind that everything you're witnessing on the big screen actually happened in real life. The film is tense, terrific, and terrifying at the same time and truly captures the emotional state of the victims as well as the physical damages they endured thanks to incredibly powerful performances by the entire cast led by Dev Patel, Armie Hammer, Nazanin Boniadi, Jason Isaacs, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, and Anupam Kher. Maras did a great job setting up these horrifying events and fleshing them out to make the audience feel trapped with the survivors in that haunting hotel.

The issues I had with the film are really minimal and barely affected my experience at all. First of all, I do whish that the script focused a bit more on local victims that were affected either directly or inderectly by the assault (Dev Patel's pregnant, worried wife being one that immediately comes to mind) rather. Instead it opts to highlight foreign characters that are guests at the hotel as well as the incredibly brave staff who stayed put and did everything in their power to keep said guests safe. Additionaly, I did have an issue with the way the film was shot as it felt a bit bland and not as interesting as the story it was telling, but I can't say that I was bothered much by it. There were also a couple of scenes that didn't entirely land with me (especially one that involves a guest complaining about the appearance of two other characters), but again, they they weren't distracting to the point of taking me out of the movie.

I truly believe that "Hotel Mumbai" is one of the very best anti-terrorism movies ever made and belongs in the same category as "Captain Phillips" or "United 93". I was pleasantly surprised by it and genuinely can't recommend it enough.

FINAL GRADE: 8.5/10