Is this 2017’s most disturbing doco? Hotel Coolgardie (TBC)
83mins Coopers Crossing this ain’t. Sure Coolgardie’s Denver City Hotel might look like a typical two-storey Aussie country pub, but the publican is more EastEnders’ Dirty Den than The Flying Doctors’ Vic Buckley. It’s Pete’s way or the highway. The locals say it’s a place they are more than happy to regularly frequent, even if they have to provide their own entertainment.
One of the town’s highlights though, is the arrival of new barmaids every few months. Chosen by Pete through an agency (‘‘If they look good, they don’t need experience,’’ he leers in one of the first of the doco’s many disturbing pronouncements), each new pair of backpackers faces a warm welcome that includes chalkboard top billing. Finnish backpackers Steph and Lina’s task is made harder by both cultural and language barriers and the success of their predecessors. As they struggle with the till, drinks orders, slang and sexist and xenophobic slurs, Pete’s patience wears thin.
A cross between Kiwi rugby doco The Ground We Won and an Aussie Outback horror film, Hotel Coolgardie is a compelling yet chilling watch.
While Gleeson tries to get us to look beyond the troubling attitudes of the town’s populace, it’s hard not to feel somewhat unclean after spending 80 minutes in their company. However, beneath any feelings of contempt, you also find yourself recognising a similarity to people and places you might have encountered. As director Gleeson himself says: ‘‘It might be an intensely Aussie experience, but its themes are universal.’’
There’s also no small amount of humour amongst the horror, from what surely must be the planet’s worst Mr Whippy to the unique world-view of local celebrity Can Man.
– James Croot