Director Jeremy Saulnier
Genre Crime | Horror | Thriller
Cast Imogen Poots, Anton Yelchin, Alia Shawkat, Patrick Stewart
Rating R
Release Date April 29th, 2016
“After witnessing a murder, a punk rock band is forced into a vicious fight for survival against a group of maniacal skinheads.”
Green Room is directed and written by Jeremy Saulnier, who most notably directed and wrote the 2013 intensely violent film Blue Ruin that rocked the independent film world. Saulnier sure seems to have a feel for tense thrillers. Green Room stars Patrick Stewart (Star Trek), Anton Yelchin (Star Trek), Imogen Poots (That Awkward Moment, She’s Funny That Way), and Alia Hawkat (The Final Girls).
Green Room is a white-knuckle thriller that keeps the audience off balance, utilizing the authentic and chilling feel of true evil lurking around every corner. And I am not referring to ghosts, demons, or the boogeyman, I am referring to the scariest evil of all, evil that comes in the form of a calm and collected group of skin heads hell bent on tying up any loose ends. It kept me on the edge of my seat for its entirety and what I enjoyed most was the false sense of security afforded by the even-keeled Patrick Stewart. As the plot unfolds you can’t help but feel the sense of dread and terror invading the lives of this punk rock band. Green Room is extremely violent and pulls very few punches in that respect. But it is worth noting that it shows just the right amount of gore to get the point across, and isn’t trying to turn anyone’s stomach. The winning formula here is tension and the film has it in spades.
The cast is fantastic in Green Room and they held things together quite well. Patrick Stewart unquestionably stole the show and fans of his work will be genuinely surprised to see him play this character. I will say that for a script like this to work you need a talented cast that can really sink their teeth into their respective roles, and Stewart did just that. I hope to see him in similar roles in the future. Stewart’s Star Trek co-star Anton Yelchin held his own as well, and did a solid job making the predicament he found himself in believable. I also enjoyed actresses Imogen Poots and Alia Hawkat, who played complex characters with some demons of their own.
Green Room is a film that lives and dies by the tension it creates and it was a true pleasure to experience the raw goodness of it all. It is one thing to put a bunch of people in a room and make it clear that something very bad is about to happen to them, but it is another thing entirely when you are able to make it nearly impossible for the audience to decipher in what direction the film is going. Jeremy Saulnier is a clearly talented writer and director and I hope he continues to allow fans of quality film the ability to experience his art. Green Room was given a limited theatrical release but it is worth driving that extra 20 or 30 minutes to see it, so what are you waiting for?!
