Hotel Mumbai
***
Dir: Anthony Maras (15, 123 mins)
An uncomfortable retelling of the terrorist atrocity at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai in 2008, Anthony Maras’ film works almost too well. Dev Patel stars as Arjun, a family man and server at the hotel forced to look after the safety of guests when it is held under siege by four gunmen during a city-wide attack. The siege lasted four days, the law enforcement agencies slow to respond as a series of terrorist outrages hit the city. A hideous act that plays out like a disaster movie with various interweaving character stories overlapping: loyal servants Patel and Anupam Kher’s noble master chef, Armie Hammer’s father trying to save his child, Aussie backpackers, Jason Isaacs’ wealthy Russian businessman, the struggling, ill-prepared police force and the terrorists themselves. It’s an uneasy mix, docudrama mixing with stereotypical disaster film tropes, that is captured with gut wrenching aplomb but also feels rather demeaning and prurient at times. Like United 93 and U-July 22 this is a flawed but harrowing attempt to represent the unthinkable.
Opens Sept 27