HOTEL ARTEMIS (15)

STYLE confidently trumps substance in Drew Pearce’s intriguing dystopian thriller about a secret membership-only hospital for the criminal fraternity.

Set during a sweltering summer of civil unrest in futuristic Los Angeles, Hotel Artemis dazzles with expertly choreographed fight sequences and pithy one-liners.

The writer-director is aided by a mesmerising lead performance from Jodie Foster as the agoraphobic clinician in charge of the hospital, who has spent 22 torturous years within its cracked walls and self-medicates to numb the pain of her devastating loss.

Grungy production design is enhanced by South Korean cinematographer Chunghoon Chung, who revels in the decaying grandeur of the central location.

Foster’s searing performance is complemented by the bristling menace of Dave Bautista as an orderly, who threatens “to unheal” anyone who breaks the hospital’s bond of confidentiality.

The promised prescription of thrills and spills delivers only a fleeting high.