'The Royal Hotel' director Kitty Green on the ending that will 'upset some people'

Julia Garner and Jessica Henwick lead Kitty Green's gripping, thrilling and enraging movie The Royal Hotel, set as two women take jobs at a bar in the Australian Outback.

"It's about this sort of behaviour we allow," Green told Yahoo Canada during the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). "What we allow to happen and when do we say no, and it's about giving people permission."

Green was inspired by the documentary Hotel Coolgardie, which told the story of two Scandinavian women trapped in a mining town in Australia. It was the female perspective of that story that really got the filmmaker started on her journey to make The Royal Hotel.

Movie: The Royal Hotel
Release date: Oct. 6
Director: Kitty Green
Cast: Julia Garner, Jessica Henwick, Hugo Weaving, Ursula Yovich, Toby Wallace, James Frecheville, Herbert Nordrum, Daniel Henshall
Runtime: 90 minutes

Hanna (Garner) and Liv (Henwick) are best friends from the U.S. who decided to take a trip together, backpacking through Australia. In an effort to make some money, the women take jobs at a bar in a remote mining town, largely filled with men.

When Hanna and Liv first arrive, they're taken aback by this male-dominated drinking culture in the town, but ultimately are quick to excuse a lot of the bad behaviour, Liv especially. But as the men become more aggressive and emboldened by the gender dynamic to get closer to the women, the question Hanna and Liv struggle with is not when they'll leave, but should they leave.

"Hanna's always figuring out, can I say no to this? Is this bad enough that I'm allowed to say no? Or leave?" Green said. "So it sits on this line and no one crosses the line necessarily, until maybe towards the end, but it doesn't ever cross into a really violent situation, not intentionally."

"It's about the kind of behaviour and a certain aspect of drinking culture where you're a bit like, 'This is a bit out of control and I don't feel comfortable, but I can't tell if I'm danger or if it's OK.' It's about the kind of confusion we have, I think, in spaces where we feel a little threatened, but we're not sure if we're overreacting or if it's a legitimate threat, which is kind of a grey area. And when do we speak up for ourselves? And when do we say 'no, enough.' When do we go along with it?"

'We wanted to make sure they all felt like real human beings'

Historically, many stories set in the Australian Outback are male-focused, but that's also something Green wanted to shift with this film.

"I haven't seen the Outback through this lens, I haven't seen women trying to figure out if they're safe or not, also women taking charge and being strong, and not being the victims of the environment, necessarily," Green said.

"When you see the image of the two girls in backpacks, you assume that something bad's going happen, and how can you ... challenge those expectations."

While the behaviour of these men in the town is toxic and, frankly, quite vile, in order to really understand the personal conflict the women face — Hanna in particular — about whether they should leave, there has to be a bit of sensitivity with the male characters.

"We didn't want anyone to feel like a stereotype or just a drunk in a very boring, two-dimensional way," Green said. "We wanted to make sure they all felt like real human beings."

"A lot of people ... are very lonely and so they're trying to connect with people, but they often don't know how and their approach goes the wrong way. But I think it's probably well intentioned and just coming out strange. ... I think the actors themselves, like Toby [Wallace], James [Frecheville], [Daniel Henshall], they all brought their own sensitivities to the characters. ... You can really sense the vulnerability and stuff because they really brought that to the table."

An ending that 'often men don't like'

While we won't spoil the ending of the film, as Green herself said, it's not a conclusion that sits well with everyone. The filmmaker certainly makes her mark and takes a stand with how she ends the film, which we loved, even if it's not what others wanted to see.

"I feel like often men don't like it," Green said. "I get it's going to upset some people, but I'm proud of it."

"The ending was almost like us as a film team saying, we don't accept the behaviour. It's not permissible, we don't think this is OK. I feel like if we didn't end it that way, it would have been a bit like, 'Sure go ahead guys, this is fine.' ... I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself if they just left and put up with all of that."

It's very likely that every woman who watches The Royal Hotel will, in some capacity, connect with Hanna and Liv trying to determine if they're actually in danger and if they should leave a situation that's uncomfortable, but not yet physically violent.

Green takes an incredibly welcome, honest approach to women's interpretation of toxic male behaviour, raising questions about what we've deemed acceptable in our culture.

What this film does brilliantly is really expand the scope of what a film in the horror and thriller genre can look like. It's a story that will have you at the edge of your seat, but both in fear and anger about what these women are going through. Particularly because the situation is, whether everyone wants to admit it or not, very grounded in reality.