Bad Times at the El Royale is one of those increasingly rare pictures: a studio film which is not a sequel or adaptation but based on an original screenplay and directed by the writer and first-time director. That makes for a thoroughly original movie: a mystery thriller with Hitchcockian overtones and a plot line with more twists than a mountain road. Written and directed by Drew Goddard, writer of Lost, Daredevil and The Martian, the film features Dakota Johnson, Chris Hemsworth, and Jon Hamm as well as Golden Globe winner Jeff Bridges and Tony and Grammy winner Cynthia Erivo in her feature film debut. The HFPA’s Paoula Abou-Jaoude asked Bridges, Erivo, and Goddard about the film.