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Hotel Artemis


Hotel Artemis (2018)
(71%)

Director: Drew Pearce
Writer: Drew Pearce
Stars: Jodie Foster, Sofia Boutella, Dave Bautista
Production Company: The Ink Factory

Hotel Artemis is an enjoyable crime thriller that's set in the future and takes place entirely in a hotel that acts as a hospital for criminals. There are a few rules that The Nurse (Jodie Foster) requires everyone to follow, and a person has to have a membership to get fixed up, but otherwise she doesn't care what the person does for a living or how bad they are, she'll still fix them up. The story follows her as she embarks on what should be a typical night at the Artemis, but it slowly starts to spin out of control as the night drags on. There is a B-Story that deals with a corporation charging money for access to water, which has caused riots to break out around L.A., but I found it to be severely underdeveloped. It served its purpose, but that's it. There definitely could have been a little bit more exploration into it. The main story isn't incredible, but I was entertained the entire time...although it did leave me wanting a little bit more. As for the action....when it happens, it's great. But I wouldn't go into this film expecting a lot of action because there isn't a ton of it. Most of it revolves around The Nurse fixing up patients and dealing with dilemmas.

I will say that I did enjoy how subtle the futuristic technology she uses to work on patients is. All of it actually seems somewhat realistic and similar to what we may very well have access to in the future.

Given the short runtime (just a hair over 90 minutes), it's hard for the entire cast to get enough screen time to properly develop. I found myself very invested in Jodie Foster's character, but I didn't really care about any of the others, especially when the end came. Also, I figured Jeff Goldblum would have a much, much bigger role in this film, but he's in it for maybe five minutes or so, which was a disappointment.

Overall, I had a good time watching Hotel Artemis. It entertained me, despite the flaws it may have.