Scarlett Pictures' Kath Shelper may have made a decision a few years ago to retire from producing, yet she's helped to bring to screen two of the most anticipated Australian films of late: Warwick Thornton's 'The New Boy', which lands in cinemas on Thursday after a Cannes berth, and Kitty Green's upcoming 'The Royal Hotel'.
Kitty Green's 'The Royal Hotel' will open two film festivals in the space of a week after being announced as the opening film of this year's Adelaide Film Festival (AFF).
Inspired by the 2017 observational documentary 'Hotel Coolgardie' by filmmaker Pete Gleeson, Kitty Green's 'The Royal Hotel' stars Julia Garner and Jessica Henwick as Hanna and Liv, two best friends backpacking around Australia.
Critics have hailed Kitty Green's 'The Royal Hotel' as an "even deeper" and "pulpier and more explosive" look at toxic masculinity than her 2019 #MeToo thriller 'The Assistant', with many drawing comparisons between the film and Ted Kotcheff's 1971 classic 'Wake in Fright'.
When Kitty Green first watched Peter Gleeson's 2017 documentary 'Hotel Coolgardie', she was immediately intrigued by the subject matter, leading her to write her second narrative feature, 'The Royal Hotel'.