
On a dusty highway between Australia's most isolated city and its largest gold pit lies Coolgardie - where the arrival every three months of a new pair of foreign backpackers to work the only bar in town is a keenly anticipated event. Fresh off the plane and lured by the promise of an authentic outback experience, Finnish travellers Lina and Steph find themselves en route to a dot on the map - to pour beers, replenish depleted travel funds, and live amongst the locals. But th... (Full plot summary below)
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On a dusty highway between Australia's most isolated city and its largest gold pit lies Coolgardie - where the arrival every three months of a new pair of foreign backpackers to work the only bar in town is a keenly anticipated event. Fresh off the plane and lured by the promise of an authentic outback experience, Finnish travellers Lina and Steph find themselves en route to a dot on the map - to pour beers, replenish depleted travel funds, and live amongst the locals. But their working holiday quickly deteriorates into a baptism of fire. Harangued by their new boss, relentlessly pursued by booze-addled patrons, and prey to the madness and malaise of an environment as claustrophobic as it is isolated - the girls soon realise that to meet expectations out here, they'll need to do more than just serve drinks.
Leave your thoughts about Hotel Coolgardie.
| Herald Sun (Australia)Leigh PaatschJaw-dropping, stomach-churning and thought-provoking -- literally always at the same time -- Hotel Coolgardie is one of the most confronting and compelling documentaries ever filmed in this country. |
| Flicks.co.nzAlex CaseyA nuanced portrait of power, gender and crushing small town sadness. |
| Concrete PlaygroundImogen BakerWhat follows is a deeply uncomfortable look at toxic masculinity, male domination of public spaces through microaggressions, and the binge drinking culture that rots small mining towns. |
| The Young FolksNathanael HoodPete Gleeson's Hotel Coolgardie is a frequently nightmarish, occasionally heartbreaking documentary ... |
| ABC Radio (Australia)CJ JohnsonOne can only imagine the moments left unfilmed, in the undocumented version of this story, which repeats itself, in three-monthly cycles, out there in the red dust, where the men wait for young travellers like mangy dogs for carrion. |
| Stuff.co.nzJames CrootA cross between Kiwi rugby documentary The Ground We Won and an Aussie outback horror film, Hotel Coolgardie is a compelling yet chilling watch. |
| FILMINK (Australia)Travis JohnsonHotel Coolgardie is an ugly film, but a revealing one |
| Film ExperienceGlenn DunksThe film builds towards an ending that is as real-life horrific as anything Wolf Creek could muster... |
| 3AWJim SchembriAn eye-opening, unsettling look at a part of the national character we thought had died off decades ago. |
| Sydney Morning HeraldPaul ByrnesIt's a fascinating, appalling, revealing film about the murkier end of Australian masculinity. |