Hotel Coolgardie (2016) User Reviews

A raw and uncompromising look at the real Australia

[eddie_baggins · 7/10 · 18 December 2017]

It's safe to say that Hotel Coolgardie won't be being used by Tourism Australian anytime soon to help drive backpackers and tourists to our undeniable beautiful, yet sometimes harsh and almost medieval like landscape filled with both the very best and some of the very poorest of human behaviours.

Like an updated real-life version of Ted Kotcheff's 1971 Australian based cult-classic Wake in Fright, Pete Gleeson's documentary, that follows a few months in the lives of Finnish backpackers Lina and Stephie as they try to earn money and experience Australia as barmaids in the small Western Australian mining centric town of Coolgardie is a raw, insightful and painstakingly honest portrayal of the oft-unspoken drinking culture at the heart of many Australian communities and the casual sexism, racism and arrogance that comes along with it.

For those that view the Australian culture through rose-tinted glasses, Hotel Coolgardie will be a real shock to the system.

Gleeson's camera never flinches as Lina and Stephie experience a range of confronting and often hard to watch scenes. From drunk patrons talking to them about deeply personal and utterly wrong ruminations of why they can't find the right woman, through to abusive and highly offensive comments made to them by their employer, Hotel Coolgardie shows things how it is making it an effective and in many ways important showcase for the underbelly of our great yet sometimes sadly disappointing country and those that call themselves true Australians.

It's not all doom and gloom here however as Gleeson's documentary still shines a light on much of the good that makes Australia such a desired destination.

From the friendly patron of the girls pub known as the Canman though to Stephie friendship with a kind-hearted yet troubled local, Hotel Coolgardie reminds us all that underneath some of the rough and tough exterior lies some genuine care, affection and spirit that is sometimes sadly squashed by a harsh exterior, built up over time to combat the very nature of a town and its citizens of a community such as Coolgardie.

Final Say -

While the film would've benefited greatly from Lina and Stephie being more purely likeable central figures and for us to know more about their situations and road to this point in their lives, Hotel Coolgardie is an often fascinating look into a taboo subject matter and an under-examined aspect of core Australian traditions and lifestyle.

3 ½ camping trips out of 5

Endurance and grace in a harsh environment

[ads79-610-347820 · 8/10 · 18 April 2019]

Hotel Coolgardie is an engaging, human tale that follows two Finnish travelers in the Australian outback. Following the theift of their credit cards they are forced to find work in a small mining town east of Perth where lodging is provided. In this isolated and harsh environment, Lina and Steph encounter continunous drunken, chauvinistic behaviour from the patrons (and bar manager for that matter), behaviour the two outgoing barmaids seemed to imbrace. To Lina and Steph's credit they handle their work under these horrible conditions with grace and even form bonds with some of the locals, Lina in particular.

While the sexism on display is predictable and uncomfortable to watch, there's also a loneliness and sadness to the locals portrayed. Some of the drunken interactions are amusingly cringeworthy, with their macho behaviour exposed to be very fragile at times. I almost felt a degree of sympathy for them.

This was a moving, well paced documentary where I felt genuine care for the two travellers. I would thoughorly recommend. 8.5/10

Fascinating and rough adventure

[riprock9000 · 7/10 · 30 January 2020]

This insightful documentary follows two young women who find themselves broke and in need of work in Western Australia. They were victims of theft while vacationing in Bali and need money to travel home. The young women in question are from Finland and find work in a bar in the rough hewn mining town of Coolgardie through an employment agency in Perth.

True to form when envisioning a place like this where the folks are as rough as they place they inhabit not unlike some of backwoods towns in the States. The men are primarily mysogynistic and the women largely unsympathetic and almost abrasive to the girls. It's very disturbing to watch these two young women tolerate the abuse which is flung their way by the bar owner. But they push forward through the awkward backwards pulse of a dirty, dusty mining town which is almost like a nightmare. Endless drunken men who continuously and callously treat them with thorough disrespect. There are a few of the men who endear themselves, but they're goal is much the same. The girls are strangers in a strange land where most of the people treat them with contempt and even more so because they are not from Australia. I've lived in the south most of my life and I witnessed things such as this for myself.

In the end the girls manage to find themselves going home not necessarily the way initially planned, but not without considerable misery at the hands of yokels with nothing much better to do than stay drunk. The movie is an experience and should certainly be seen to get a real feel of the outback. I had heard a comedian on TV once describe Australia as "Redneck England" and Robin Williams make a similar statement many years ago which landed him in hot water. Obviously, the film is not an overall depiction of Australia itself by any means. The film illustrates a study in humanity which often ugly, but as I stated before. I've been in some backwoods places which were very similar here in the States. Anyway, the film was jarring and well worth the time to watch with a grain of salt so as not to excoriate the locals living in such conditions.

A fish out of water story in the Australian outback

[schiarantano · 7/10 · 18 April 2022]

Hotel Coolgardie which is directed, shot and edited by Pete Gleeson is a fish out of water tale which shines a light on the attitudes of Australian men albeit in the Australian outback. Two young Finnish girls try their luck when they take a job working as barmaids at a pub called Hotel Denver City, in a remote mining town named Coolgardie, in the Australian outback. Although they are forewarned by the female recruiting agent in Perth that they are going to a somewhat isolated mining town and will be dealing with a lot of male attention, Lina and Stephanie take the job regardless, out of economic necessity.

Like clockwork, every quarter a new batch of girls arrive to work the bar at Hotel Denver City. Lina and Stephanie are replacing Becky and Clio who are wrapping up their three month contract. Interviews with the male regulars of Hotel Denver City reveal that they view the girls as the only game in town, and their is a race to bed them. Their employer, Pete, announces their pending arrival, on the sandwich board outside the bar with the words, "New Girls Tonite". The film documents Lina and Stephanie's attempts to see through their contract and hold it together while they fend off the unrelenting male attention. Gleeson creates intimate portraits of these two young women struggling to maintain their dignity in a sexually charged atmosphere. You not only feel their discomfort and alienation but are worried about their mental health. They are subjected to rude and insulting language and behaviour not just from the blokes but from their boss, Pete, who does nothing to stop it but adds insult to injury by belittling them in public. I was thankful for the presence of John, aka "The Canman", one of the few nice male characters in the film, who presents a different male perspective. I was touched by John's story and his benevolence and friendship with Lina and Stephanie. The dramatic tension in the film doesn't let up and if you want to find out what happens to Lina and Stephanie, well, you've got to see the documentary.

I found Hotel Coolgardie a fascinating documentary. Gleeson has done an excellent job editing his film as it moves fluidly between Lina and Stephanie allowing for two different perspectives, and by interspersing the entire film with day and night shots of Coolgardie and the Australian outback which situates their story in a cultural context. The film not only shines a light on shared attitudes prevalent among Australian men albeit in the Australian outback, but, is a metaphor for the outsider, the migrant, who far away from home, most often alone, must learn an unfamiliar language and navigate and adapt to new cultural contexts to eke out a precarious economic living.

Fly on the wall documentary shows real life in Australia's outback and how it exploits backpacking labour

[cotta002-318-865119 · 7/10 · 12 September 2021]

Very good filming where you forget there is a camera and it is quite clear the people in this documentary forgot the camera quickly as well.

It shows a rough brutal way that a hotel owner treats temporary employees and how a small mining town looks forward to greeting new staff.

Some characters come off ok, some clearly are lonely and welcome the chance to get to know new faces and take a trip with them to relieve the boredom of the town but others clearly have other ideas.

Shocking to see how an employer reacts to illness, to know what I mean watch the movie.

Diabeetus

[tjfigueroa · 7/10 · 3 February 2022]

As a clinician, the most frustrating part of this entire documentary was watching a young diabetic girl become obviously septic from an infected foot ulcer and delay treatment for over 24 hours. She was beyond lucky to survive.

Spot on documentary / A MUST WATCH

[alanawhiteley · 10/10 · 8 December 2019]

It is an absolute must watch!

As a female Australian who has worked as a bar maid and also grown up exposed to country towns (or just those 'typical' all Australian communities, because it's not just rural areas men/women/employers have this mindset which sadly is representing Australia so poorly) i can confirm this is a very accurate portrayal. Well Done!

Warning: Prepare yourself to go through all the emotions like I did when i watched it. This film really brought to light so many things that are wrong in our culture, many of which are so desperately needing to be exposed off and talked about.

I look forward to seeing more documentary's like this one, one highlighting the gambling culture here would be something id love to see from these same film makers if possible.

Sick and demented

[EddyGrimley · 9 July 2021]

As a Canadian who backpacked around Australia in the early 2000's (and now lives here) I was disgusted then with the way backpackers and in particular Female travellers were treated. The men in country towns were vulgar and Misogynistic pigs who thought a rape joke or advancement was funny to the staff at pretty much every pub I went to. This movie is a perfect example of just that. The scene with Pikey makes My skin crawl and I was glad the film Crew was there.

The movie should be shown on the plane to travellers on their way to Oz.

I like how the employment company staff member never shows her face, I wouldn't want people to know I was facilitating this garbage work either.

Living here now for over 15 years I know this isn't the case everywhere but this story is not uncommon.

Gross, sad, creepy, wolf creekish and pathetic is the only way to describe this movie... don't bother.

Basically a horror gameshow

[exbklyngal · 7/10 · 27 December 2023]

A no-fun review of "Hotel Coolgardie"

Initially I was surprised that the documentary feature, Hotel Coolgardie, directed by Pete Gleeson in 2016, had received film festival accolades. Besides the very linear plot told with lots of rough and ready camera work, there appears to be little else: No journey of discovery, no character experiencing a surprising moment of clarity, no moment where the viewer is forced to reconsider her outlook on the world. There is no allegory, parable or metaphor. Where's the meta?

The premise of the film is basically a horror gameshow: If two young women can survive verbal, sexual and emotional abuse with a convincing smile on their faces for 3 months, then they can cash up and carry on with their travel adventures.

The two young women are Stephanie and Lina, travelling friends from Finland who, after losing their money to thieves in Bali, look for a job in Australia so they can replenish their savings and continue their adventures. They accept a job offer to work as barmaids at a remote "country pub" with a 3 month commitment.

I could already feel the low level dread rising in me.

As Stephanie and Lina move across the remote, dusty outback on their way to Coolgardie, a barely town that caters to the crass, unquenchably thirsty labourers of the local open-pit mine, It would have been a fun touch to see some visual effects illustrating time travel (old school pages ripping off a calendar anyone?) because we are now truly going back in time. Waaaay before the #metoo movement but also apparently way before most of the 21st century. This town seemed so lost in time, velociraptors bouncing in the background instead of kangaroos wouldn't have been amiss (Hello magic realism!) But sadly no. The sign outside the bar announcing "New Girls Tonight" has to tell the tale single handedly.

Once ensconced in the sad, fly-ridden titular hotel where they share a room, the Finnish gals are given an expletive filled crash course in bar-maiding from their honey badger of a boss. This is when the game show fun really begins as the next 45 minutes unfold with customers jeering, cajoling, objectifying, cursing, belittling, degrading and intimidating the gals, but also asking them out. (Spin the wheel!)

But it isn't all about objectifying the gals, there are also scenes when the drunken men lament when women in their lives left them broke and brokenhearted, or when women in their lives took their beloved trucks or when women in their lives mysteriously no longer wanted to have relationships with them. But what was conspicuously absent was any backstory or information about Lina or Stephanie. Despite being in almost every scene, all we know about them is that, well, they're female. It's almost as if the objectification of them in the story extends to the filmmaking itself. It's almost....meta?

By keeping the lens on the young women week after week in this story without any filmmaking pizzazz (and sadly no dinosaurs), the film becomes a straight-up reflection of what it means to walk the world female. To be a woman "seen." It is a 90 minute distillation of the decades long female experience through the beer googles of a toothless, twangy, bar owner and his drunken mates.

At this point, my low level dread was feeling increasingly familiar. It reminded me of every boss who ever massaged my shoulders at work, who ever said I was no fun. Of that guy who grabbed my breast on the subway and ran off laughing, of the guy in grade school who masturbated under the desk while staring at me, of my producer who asked me, as the editor, to splice outtakes of the lead actress into a porno as a joke for the wrap party ("don't be like that! She'll love it") and let's not even talk about that trip to Morocco.

And what was I doing in Morocco? The same thing as Lina and Stephanie: trying to adventure and explore the world and carpe the diem. And isn't that our right? Isn't that the joy of being young and free and curious? Not in Coolgardie (like so many places, foreign and domestic) where female adventure comes not only with the constant threat to personal safety but sometimes with a blatant, write it in capital letters on a sign out front level of objectification that is shocking and depressing. (New Meat Tonight!).

Late in the film, Lina and Steph are summarily fired. The honey badger doesn't think they seem sufficiently joyful and grateful for their positions at the bar (3 month commitment, wot?) He calls the employment agency and asks for two more girls to replace them. If that doesn't encapsulate the often vulnerable position of young, female workers, I don't know what does. Smile, don't rock the boat if you want to keep that job. Hmmmm, metaphor maybe...

Ok, I was finally getting the film festival accolades but did I actually like this film? No. The same way I didn't like that I never got to see Morocco. Too many space hogging, leering, presumptuous and aggressive men blocked my view. What should have been a trip filled with adventure for two young women ends up being an all too familiar story about predation and self preservation.

Don't like my review? Well I'm just no fun.

Australia's rampant culture of alcoholism

[maccas-56367 · 9/10 · 12 July 2021]

The most accurate portrayal of Australian culture on film and everything that's wrong with it. One of the most harrowing pieces of film-making I have ever seen.

This gave me anxiety. It felt like I had been dunked underwater and couldn't come up for breath. You can't look away. From the moment the film started, it's engrossing and eye-opening.

I wish the likes of "Pikey" were fictional characters. But they're not. He and many others (women included) are throughout Australian towns and cities causing havoc, committing assault and other assorted crimes.

I have been on both sides of the bar, and experienced a lot of what was depicted in this documentary. Australia's rampant culture of alcoholism is well on display here and captured so accurately by the filmmakers. The fly-on-the-wall style suits it perfectly.

It's embarrassing viewing as an Australian, but essential viewing at the same time. The postscript was as jaw-dropping as the rest of the film, and equal parts heartbreaking. Hotel Coolgardie is a film I will never forget.

RIP Canman.

Bound to make you feel deeply uncomfortable

[paul-allaer · 7/10 · 5 April 2024]

"Hotel Coolgardie" (2016 release from Australia; 84 min.) brings the story of Lina and Stephanie, two young women from Finland who arrive in Perth looking for a job to earn some money. They are assigned for a 3 month stint at a bar in Coolgardie, a small mining town that is a 6 h. Drive east from Perth, and literally in the middle of nowhere, Upon starting their stint as barmaids, it's not long before Lina and Stephanie are subjected to all kinds of sexism and worse... At this point we are 10 min into the documentary.

Couple of comments: it all starts very innocently, but once the real character of the locals of Coolgardie comes to the forefront, things get ugly pretty quickly. One of the girls comments that "people are either depressed or sad", and that just about sums it up. Except that it is inexcusable what the two Finnish ladies are put through. Apparently sending young females out to bartend in remote places is a flourishing business (because they don't know what they are getting into). This documentary is bound to make you feel deeply uncomfortable, but as a documentary it is priceless, providing a glimpse into something that is out there in remote Australia...

Let me confess that I had never heard of this movie, but Amazon Prime suggested it to me based on my viewing habits (I love me a good documentary). Even though the subject matter isn't the easiest, this is currently rated 94% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and for good reason. If you love a good documentary and don't mind feeling uncomfortable at times, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

Typical rural Australia.

[gand7 · 10/10 · 4 August 2023]

I was born in Melbourne, Australia, and I'm glad that I was, because, to think that I may have ended up as one of these vile rubes is worrying. I really wish these poor girls had taken bar jobs closer to the cities, away from Australia's worst-case scenario situation.

It's the same old story; Employer seems nice to begin with, rolls out the welcome mat. Quickly turns terrible from there. Bigotry, misogyny and bullying follow on a regular basis. I was a bartender for four years. I had one employer who was a sleazebag with the ladies but was never abusive to his employees. I really just wish the girls had left on the first night. There are civilised places in Australia where people don't treat foreigners like they're garbage.

I can't fault the movie. It is what it is. It depicts exactly why I don't go too far out into the boonies anymore because they live fifty years in the past. I would love to see the owner show up at a bar in Melbourne spouting that garbage to the girls. Somebody would break his jaw in a second.

Mining Town

[Briaida2-242-430003 · 6/10 · 5 August 2023]

No different than the mining towns in the United States.....in the 19th century. Talk about going back in time. Not sure what else to expect in a place considering it surroundings. The thing is we could have easily predicted this environment in Coolgardie, but no one seems willing enough to change it. Very eye opening to watch but very unnerving experience for these girls.

As far as being a "True" documentary, it close but there appears to be some embellishments of peoples behavior. Always true when a camera is placed on people. Characters were definitely told to embellish their "lines". The problem is they look so natural performing. It's not really far from their true character IMO.

Garbage dump of humanity.

[randomnpc · 1/10 · 15 November 2021]

If you want to see a garbage dump of humanity, and watch two sweet innocent Finnish girls, who just want to work to make money to see Australia, have thier happiness slowly die from constant verbal abuse, constant sexual harrassment, and having thier home violated and disrespected, and watch a very unhappy ending, then this movie is for you.

As an Australian after watching this, for the first time in my life, I'm utterly disgusted and ashamed of my country. The job agency who keeps sending innocent girls to that hell should be charged with abuse and conspiracy to commit torture.

9 star documentary about a 1 star establishment

[robertkdb · 9/10 · 17 November 2020]

I have to admire the grit of these 2 girls who continued to work at a place that robbed them of their dignity on a daily basis. Their resilience was misconstrued as 'not fitting in', which ultimately led to them being let go. As an Australian, I implore would-be travelers/workers to invest 90 minutes in their trip and watch this film. Film-making was world-class.

A real life Horror movie

[Robertttttt · 10/10 · 27 February 2022]

There´s not a moment you are not feeling these girls pain. It´s an 80 minutes anxiety attack on screen.

There are reviews that put a bad score because it´s sad. Mamma Mia must be a masterpiece to them Another guy said "nothing happens"...probably a regular of the Coolgardie.

Watch this please, it´s a whole experience.

Gruesome yet rivetting

[littlesatanhooves · 8/10 · 20 January 2020]

Oz band Men At Work once wrote a song about a land down under, "where women glow and men plunder". They obviously weren't singing about Coolgardie, where the women are every bit as vile and repugnant as the men. The last time I heard the phrase "bar girl' was back in the 70s in a town in a third-world country, and even back then the term was considered derogatory. But it is still gleefully used by a bar called The Swan in Coolgardie, in the new millennium! The reason why I watched this till the end (and might watch again) is because of my fascination with rural Australia, facets of which were well served by movies like Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and the remake of Wake in Fright. So yes, I found this movie downright unpleasant, yet fascinating to watch, if only to tell myself how lucky I am not to be living there :) !!

With so many idiots in this movie it makes it tough to enjoy.

[rsmith1960 · 3/10 · 24 July 2021]

I have met a lot of Australians over the years & they have all been a lot of fun & great people. Listening to some of the locals & especially the owner I've never seen so many scimbags in my life. Poor girls are stuck & need work, no one would treat their daughters or family like this. They agree to a 90 commitment so end up having to take this bs. Too bad they didn't walk away as soon as they got there & tried to find something better. This isn't entertainment only showing abuse of these young ladies.

So well-done that you forget there are cameramen.

[deeegenerate · 9/10 · 6 February 2023]

Incredible documentary. Extremely interesting slice of life from a very different culture. The filmmakers were incredibly good at staying out of the way of the film, and portraying the gritty culture of the location. I didn't expect such realistic, brutally honest interactions, and I absolutely wish more docs were like this one!

The 2 Finnish women at the center of the film were resilient, sweet, and remarkably strong. Most of the bar patrons, on the other hand, were pretty damn awful. I wouldn't think most people from areas such as these are like this. But the when a bar owner is a horrible as this guy was, the atmosphere of that establishment tends to follow suit. At times this documentary is heart-wrenching, and at others it is truly frightening.

Welcome to Australia

[errol_rocks · 8/10 · 13 December 2022]

Well you don't need to go in the bush to find this behaviour in Australia, you can actually find it basically everywhere. This wannabe male machismo behaving, getting drunk and then if they can't get a sheila, a group of drunk guys would attack a single male, due to their frustration that they couldn't score a girl. Reality is pretty bad, I worked in the security industry over there and had to deal with pretty bad things, I am just happy that I was able to save some life through my actions. Maybe it is time to realise for example that there is an alcohol problem over there, drug problem, violence problem, domestic violence problem, racism problem etc. I really disagree with a comment in a review saying "I have seen such places in Scandinavia and most of Europe." Well living in Europe I haven't to be constantly aware of my surroundings that someone will sneak up from the back and will hit me with a coward punch, or that I will get attacked by some drunks or a meth head etc. This is also the reason why drinking in public isn't allowed, while in Europe people just enjoy to have a drink in a park etc. Life is quiet here in Europe and for sure no police helicopters flying around the whole time nor sirens. Instead of sugar coating constantly things in Australia, it is time to acknowledge there are many problems, just like in schools should be shown The Australian Wars tv series, to start a serious discussion about how aboriginals are getting treated in their own country.

Atrocious owner! So Cringeworthy

[Melissa75 · 1/10 · 24 October 2020]

Having travelled around Australia for 20 years working in pubs, you would think nothing can shock me. This doco did! Any publican sitting and belittling staff whilst drinking and throwing his authority around is a dead set loser. The way he speaks to his staff is super derogatory. Avoid this place at all costs and keep going straight to Kalgoorlie

My Favourite Australian Film of ALL TIME

[felliott-133-6341 · 10/10 · 8 June 2022]

Hotel Coolgardie is my favourite Australian film of all time - Pete Gleeson's documentary perfectly portrays what happens to women when they comply to the patriarchy (represented by the original barmaids), and the awful repercussions when they don't. Despite being a documentary, it plays like a horror film - it's Wake in Fight, it's Wolf Creek, but it portrays the real life horror of life for women in Australian outback towns. I was deeply disturbed but incredibly enlightened by this amazing piece of documentary filmmaking. Bravo.

Kudos to backpacking fierce women

[Msbnitski · 10/10 · 16 January 2022]

I love the 2 women. They are beyond courageous. To do what they did in a place where they honestly tried to just make some money and be themselves and be honest ladies. They just wanted to move on. And and to put up with the cras drunks and that boss that did nothing but belittle and degrade them was beyond heroic. What a bunch of local low class drunks that did nothing but shame them and the drunk men that treated them like meat for their perverted enjoyment. Wow, they are my new favorites.

Life in the Mining Community

[The-Sarkologist · 9/10 · 17 April 2019]

This is one of those films that I was interested in seeing after hearing about it, and seeing it advertised. Basically, it is about the story of two female backpackers who take a job as bartenders in an outback town and the subsequent horrors that they experienced out there. In a way there was a suggestion that this film was in part a thriller, but also a documentary, as the film makers basically follow the girls around on the month that they spend out there, and capture the sexual harassment that the experience on an almost daily basis.

Yet, despite all of the shock and horror that is recorded about this film, and while I don't condone the behaviour of the patrons, and the boss, the truth is that first of all this was not surprising, and secondly, while they weren't necessarily able to handle it, there were others that could. Honestly, from my experiences in a toxic workplace, I don't necessarily what to suggest that what they experienced wasn't bad, it was, but was I shocked, not really. Was I uncomfortable? Yes, in parts, most definitely.

The thing is that this movie is being used to condemn the macho culture of the mining community, but I'm actually not all that surprised that this is what the culture is like. This isn't something that is restricted to a small town five hundred kilometres east of Perth, this is something that exists pretty much wherever you encounter a harsh environment where there happens to be a huge gender imbalance. In fact the environment doesn't even need to be harsh because you could easily find this type of behaviour in the heart of Silicon Valley. The problem is that this isn't going to change.

I should actually point out that the film makers didn't quite guild the lilly here, because I also noticed that they weren't the only girls out here, there were the two girls they were replacing, who seemed to have absolutely no problems with the behaviour of the locals. Then there were the two middle aged ladies that turned up as well, that didn't seem to have a problem either. Another thing that I should point out is that the two Finnish girls certainly did seem to have a problem with the two English girls, and where making comments about wishing that they would leave.

Yet I can't help but appreciate the enormous pressure that they were under, particularly since you would have guys that would basically invite themselves over, and refuse to leave when asked to. Not only that, but they were regularly attempting to get them drunk, so as to have their way with them. Also, going upstairs when you are ill only to discover some brute upstairs asleep on your couch can be quite disturbing.

The interesting thing is that the owner of the pub didn't seem to be too concerned about the behaviour of the locals. It isn't as if there were any other pubs out there, and he seems to have no problem encouraging his staff being exploited as such. Like, he complains about how useless they are, yet makes the comment at the beginning that he doesn't care whether they are experienced, as long as they are good looking, and further describes them as fresh meat. Yeah, honestly, you really can't have it both ways.

The thing that I have with this movie though is that these girls aren't the only people who find themselves trapped in a toxic workplace. Further, this isn't just about what life is like for two young women out in the mining communities. Rather, it is about what it is like being in toxic workplace where you simply cannot escape, and have to deal with unruly customers, and an arrongant and uncaring bosses. The other thing is that it is clear that he is exploiting them, despite the fact that it does seem that these girls were actually being paid really, really well. However, this still is quite an interesting film, even though I wouldn't necessarily consider it shocking, or surprising in the least.

Come puke with me . . .

[skp-96371 · 5/10 · 17 June 2020]

I'm giving it five stars because someone deserves credit for finding the Cro-Magnon patrons of the Denver Hotel bar. Honestly, really the most despicable excuses for humans. I'm with Steph, thinking about that place and its people makes me want to puke.