After they run out of money while backpacking in the Outback, two American friends – Hanna (Julia Garner) and Liv (Jessica Henwick) – decide to take a temporary live-in job behind the bar of a pub called The Royal Hotel. Located in a remote mining town, the pub is run by owner Billy (Hugo Weaving) and frequented by raucous regulars who waste no time giving the girls an introduction to the local drinking culture. Though the gig starts off well enough, they are soon trapped in an unnerving situation that grows rapidly out of their control.

Much like 1971’s Outback noir Wake in Fright, this is a tense and exhilarating psychological thriller – albeit with a feminist, Gen Z twist. The Royal Hotel may not be based on a true story, but misogynistic, alcohol-fuelled experiences like these are all too real.