'Hotel Mumbai' Is Probably the Tensest Film of 2019

Hotel Mumbai is a thriller film based on the real-life Mumbai attacks in 2008, in which 10 heavily-armed members of the Islamic terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba conducted coordinated attacks all around Mumbai in a span of four days.  The Mumbai police were ill-equipped to deal with it, and the Indian Special Forces that could took a long time to arrive since they had to come from New Delhi, which is about 1,500 kilometers away from Mumbai.  In the end, 174 people died (including 9 of the 10 terrorists) and more than 300 were injured.

The film’s plot mainly focuses on Arjun (Dev Patel), a waiter at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, and his co-workers as they muster in themselves the courage to risk their lives to protect the hotel’s guests – which include the British-Muslim heiress Zarah (Nazanin Boniadi), her American husband David (Arnie Hammer), their son and his nanny Sally (Tilda Cobham-Hervey), and a Russian VIP named Vasili (Jason Isaacs) – from the Islamic terrorists who have stormed the Taj and proceeded to kill everyone on sight.

First of all, I was quite fascinated with the hotel employees.  Holding the slogan “guest is god”, they really go out of their way to please their guests.  Even when crap goes down, so to speak, they place their dignity and lives below the hotel guests’ safety and comfort.  I don’t know how much of this is romanticized or grounded on reality, but as far as the film’s depiction goes, Taj Mahal Palace Hotel has the ultimate hotel staff.  It makes for a cool backbone for a thriller.

Hotel Mumbai is easily the tensest film I’ve seen this year so far; it has an atmosphere that somewhat reminded me of the terrific 2015 film No Escape.  It rarely lets up in compelling the audience to cringe and hold their breath for the potential of things going sideways – which in these case mean characters getting found and horrifically gunned down.  This makes it more unnerving than your average horror film – particularly one that involves supernatural elements – for not only is it realistic, but it’s based on real events.

All in all, Hotel Mumbai is a white-knuckled watch.  But more than being an effective thriller, it’s a mostly touching tribute to the victims and survivors of the tragic historical event it’s covering – especially to those who rose to the occasion, overcame their fear, and chose to risk their lives for others.