Hotel Mumbai

On the 26th of November 2008 10 members of a militant Islamic group called Lashkar-e-Taiba started a series of co-ordinated attacks around the city of Mumbai. Bullets and bombs claimed the lives of 174 innocent people over the next 4 days. Hotel Mumbai is the story of those who lived and died inside the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.

The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. Pure opulence. 5 star luxury. The place to stay if you can afford it. No expense is spared. No detail is too small. The kind of spot where the heat of your bath water is measured by thermometer. Arjun (Dev Patel) is a young waiter struggling to keep up with the pace set by head chef Hemant Oberoi (Anupam Kher) . Hemant's motto is "The guest is god" and every member of staff will go out of their way to ensure the guests are happy. Among the guests that faithful day were a British/Indian heiress called Zahra (Nazanin Boniadi), her American husband David (Armie Hammer) and a pig ignorant ex Russian army operative called Vasili (Jason Isaacs). Everything was fine and dandy until that first 5.45mm bullet shattered their peaceful existence.

You won't enjoy this movie. I'd be pure wary of anyone that would. It's a very well acted but absolutely horrifying recreation of a despicable day in Indian history. Had this been a work of fiction you'd able to sit through the nonstop massacre of civilians because you'd know you'd get a cathartic ending when the heroic cops or army boys drop through the skylights and decimate the bad guys. Maybe even one of the guests themselves who go John McClane and fight back. But this is real life. There's no such catharsis here. Happy endings are as rare as hen's teeth. What you see is a bloody portrayal of hell and the real people who's lives were destroyed.

Because it's based on fact there's no denying that it feels quite exploitative at times. Not in a violent sense thankfully. The film is brutal but it never lingers on the acts of violence and the vast majority of it is depicted in quick cuts or just off screen. No, what feels like exploitation is it's use of real events to create the kind of tension you'd expect to see in an action thriller or a disaster movie. One main character is depicted hiding from terrorists in a moment that the film makers could not possibly know about. It's ott, cheap and solely there to put the audience on edge. Fair enough in fiction but when based on fact it does leave a bad taste in your mouth. But when you have a famous face at your disposal you have to give them something memorable to do.

It's here my other issue with the movie lays. In a film about an attack on a major Indian city, to give huge chunks of screen time away to European and American characters just feels wrong. In this day and age whitewashing just.....well it doesn't wash anymore. I know famous faces like Hammer and Isaacs will help sell the movie in the American and European markets but it just feels off.  Dev Patel is the only member of hotel staff developed beyond caricature and even then he still feels like a dewey eyed "native" who's mission in life is to keep the white folk comfy. The moment where he explains his Sikhism to a worried English lady will make you cringe like mad. I won't even mention Issac's Vasili. His character is no doubt a commentary on every venal, overly wealthy and spoiled bastard the staff have to deal with on a daily basis but he feels very out of place here.

This is showing on Sky movies and in selected cinemas from today. As a history lesson it's a shallow one that will give you no real idea why it all occurred. But taken solely as a depiction of the day's events it's a harrowing watch made compelling by some fine acting. Just don't expect to be smiling after it.