Hotel Coolgardie

Hotel Coolgardie is an engaging, human tale that follows two Finnish travelers in the Australian outback. Following the theift of their credit cards they are forced to find work in a small mining town east of Perth where lodging is provided. In this isolated and harsh environment, Lina and Steph encounter continunous drunken, chauvinistic behaviour from the patrons (and bar manager for that matter), behaviour the two outgoing barmaids seemed to imbrace. To Lina and Steph's credit they handle their work under these horrible conditions with grace and even form bonds with some of the locals, Lina in particular.

While the sexism on display is predictable and uncomfortable to watch, there's also a loneliness and sadness to the locals portrayed. Some of the drunken interactions are amusingly cringeworthy, with their macho behaviour exposed to be very fragile at times. I almost felt a degree of sympathy for them.

This was a moving, well paced documentary where I felt genuine care for the two travellers. I would thoughorly recommend. 8.5/10