Hotel Mumbai, a new film based on the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, recently premiered at the ongoing Toronto International Film Festival, and has received positive reviews. The film stars Dev Patel, Armie Hammer and Anupam Kher, who was reportedly brought to tears during the screening.
“It didn’t pull any punches,” Patel, who plays a Sikh concierge, said after the screening, according to Variety. “It is an anthem of resistance.”
The TIFF premiere was the first time many cast members were seeing the competed film, directed by debutant Anthony Maras. The film, one of two future dramatizations of the Mumbai attacks, tells the story over three days, from the perspectives of the trapped guests, the hotel staff, the police and the general public.
For Screen Daily, Sarah Ward wrote in her review, “Primarily focusing on events at and surrounding the luxurious Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, writer/director Anthony Maras largely sticks to the dramatisation playbook, but does so in an effective, affecting and empathetic fashion.”
Jordon Mintzer, in his review for the Hollywood Reporter, wrote, “The level of verisimilitude is so high that when Maras cuts in actual documentary footage, it’s hard to tell it apart from the fiction. Craft contributions, including uncanny set design by Steven Jones-Evans (The Railway Man) and kinetic cinematography by Nick Remy Matthews (also making his feature debut), enhance the idea that these are real events — or at least as close to reality as a movie can be.’
{{/usCountry}}Jordon Mintzer, in his review for the Hollywood Reporter, wrote, “The level of verisimilitude is so high that when Maras cuts in actual documentary footage, it’s hard to tell it apart from the fiction. Craft contributions, including uncanny set design by Steven Jones-Evans (The Railway Man) and kinetic cinematography by Nick Remy Matthews (also making his feature debut), enhance the idea that these are real events — or at least as close to reality as a movie can be.’
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, The Wrap, calling the film the ‘show-stopping’ event of the festival, wrote, “While devastating, and at times too much for the premiere audience at the Princess of Wales to bear, Maras is confident and unflinching in this portrait of the “mindless” terror, as one news report played in the film said. He is also masterful in delivering a range of emotions (including laughs, mostly thanks to an icy playboy portrayed by Jason Isaacs) and other small rewards for viewers stepping up for this real-life nightmare.”
Hotel Mumbai was one of the several films caught in the tangle of the Weinstein Company’s bankruptcy following the Harvey Weinstein scandal, but has since been picked up for release by Bleeker Street for an early 2019 release.
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