Hotel Coolgardie

2016
1h 23m

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

1.5K

YOUR RATING

On a dusty highway between Australia's most isolated city and its largest gold pit lies Coolgardie - where the arrival every three months of a new pair of foreign backpackers to work the only bar in town is a keenly anticipated event. Fresh off the plane and lured by the promise of an authentic outback experience, Finnish travellers Lina and Steph find themselves en route to a dot on the map - to pour beers, replenish depleted travel funds, and live amongst the locals. But their working holiday quickly deteriorates into a baptism of fire. Harangued by their new boss, relentlessly pursued by booze-addled patrons, and prey to the madness and malaise of an environment as claustrophobic as it is isolated - the girls soon realise that to meet expectations out here, they'll need to do more than just serve drinks.

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Documentary

On a road between Australia's most isolated town and its largest gold mine lies Coolgardie, where the arrival every three months of a new foreign backpacker couple is a much-anticipated even... Read allOn a road between Australia's most isolated town and its largest gold mine lies Coolgardie, where the arrival every three months of a new foreign backpacker couple is a much-anticipated event.On a road between Australia's most isolated town and its largest gold mine lies Coolgardie, where the arrival every three months of a new foreign backpacker couple is a much-anticipated event.

Director
- Pete Gleeson
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

1.5K

YOUR RATING

Director
- Pete Gleeson
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 6 nominations total

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The documentary's filmmaker first discovered the outback hotel about fifteen years prior to the doc debuting. He was travelling through the country town and happened to be there at the time of a changeover between female temporary barmaid bartenders where two new ones were replacing two who were leaving after their three month tenure.

Connections
Referenced in The Royal Hotel (2023)

User reviews37

Featured review

8/10

Gruesome yet rivetting

Oz band Men At Work once wrote a song about a land down under, "where women glow and men plunder". They obviously weren't singing about Coolgardie, where the women are every bit as vile and repugnant as the men. The last time I heard the phrase "bar girl' was back in the 70s in a town in a third-world country, and even back then the term was considered derogatory. But it is still gleefully used by a bar called The Swan in Coolgardie, in the new millennium! The reason why I watched this till the end (and might watch again) is because of my fascination with rural Australia, facets of which were well served by movies like Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and the remake of Wake in Fright. So yes, I found this movie downright unpleasant, yet fascinating to watch, if only to tell myself how lucky I am not to be living there :) !!