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Today’s headlines are often about tragedy—about shootings and attacks and people who seek to do harm. But the real-life thriller Hotel Mumbai takes a tragic story and focuses on the other characters: on the chef, the waiter, and the other everyday people who stepped up to be true heroes.
Hotel Mumbai tells the story of the 2008 terrorist attack on the city of Mumbai. After targeting multiple locations throughout the city, the young gunmen make their way to the luxurious Taj Hotel, where wealthy guests are settling in for a carefully planned gourmet meal. While chaos erupts inside the hotel, several staff members risk their lives to protect the hotel’s guests, stealthily guiding them to the safest parts of the building. And when a couple is separated from their infant son, their fight to survive becomes even more desperate.
Director Anthony Maras quickly establishes the posh setting of this terrifying attack. At the Taj Hotel, the guest is god. The staff takes pride in knowing each guest’s history, preferences, and quirks. They know what to say, what to serve, and what to avoid at all costs. The Taj Hotel is a place where guests aren’t just safe—they’re served. And when these young terrorists begin gunning down the hotel’s staff members and guests, the staff members are given their greatest challenge yet.
The film then follows a variety of characters throughout the more than 12-hour attack. The young terrorists follow the directions of a mysterious voice on the phone, sometimes questioning the mission and their orders, sometimes afraid of what’s to come. A young waiter (Dev Patel) stays in the hotel, away from his family, diligently protecting the guests. The worried father (Armie Hammer) risks everything to make sure that his son is safe. And with Special Forces units still hundreds of miles away, the local police step in to fight back.
There’s certainly a lot at play here—a lot of characters in a lot of different places—but it’s all organized in a way that’s both tense and easy to follow. It’s a gripping and often emotional story, though it doesn’t necessarily make for a stand-out thriller. It simply runs longer than necessary—and, with so much action and suspense and drama, the story unfortunately loses its steam before it reaches its conclusion.
Hotel Mumbai tells the kind of real-life story that’s now all too common. It’s tense and terrifying, but it focuses where it should: on the everyday heroes who put the safety of those around them ahead of everything else.
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