Hotel Mumbai (2018)

Elevator Pitch: On 26th November 2008 10 terrorists with automatic weapons spread out in the city of Mumbai and attack heavily populated locations. When a number of them enter the Taj Hotel and start shooting, the head chef gathers the staff and asks them to rescue the guests. Meanwhile some hide or attempt to get away, and the local police, totally outgunned do what they can. The staff manage to get many people into a private club area, but when they are located by the terrorists their chances of survival are reduced.

Content: There is no sex or nudity. The terrorists are seen arriving at the city in their boat and getting taxis into the town. We see a number of guests in different situations all, I think, composites to show the experiences some people had during the attack. The staff conduct people through smoky corridors to the private club, which for a while provides security The police sneak about in their attempt to take action against the young men with the machine guns.  A lot of people are killed (over 170 in the city). The hotel is set on fire and eventually the special forces arrive.

A View: The organisers of the attack have never been brought to book, even now we only know that the gunmen arrived in a small boat – but from where? But I digress, the film manages to capture the tension and distress of the event, and the bravery of the staff of the hotel, who in real life got people out of the hotel and then returned to rescue more. The film was well liked by the critics but suffered from problems with distribution limiting its success at the box office. Now well worth the cost of a download.

Additional Info: I heard a guy on the radio who had tried to escape by tying sheets together, but his knots came apart. This prompted me to provide instructions on a blog I was writing, on how to tie the reef knot and the bowline. Everyone should know these two simple knots. They will help you survive.