Green Room (2016) Review!!!

Synopsis – After witnessing a murder, a punk rock band is forced into a vicious fight for survival against a group of maniacal skinheads.

My Take – I went into indie thriller with little expectations, unsure of what exactly to expect; I’d heard good things about it, and the fact that I’m a big fan of Jeremy Saulnier’s earlier film “Blue Ruin,” especially for its smart and savvy deconstruction of the revenge film, further piqued my interest in watching this one on the big screen. And without a doubt, the film deserves the critical and public attention it has received, especially from horror fans, though I’m hesitant to necessarily label it a “horror” film. It’s more a suspense-thriller akin to something like “Panic Room,” except with a starkly different setting and a group of twenty-something punks in place of the family home invasion prototype. Director Jeremy Saulnier‘s film is a step in the right direction, a modernized slasher film that we deserve, but one that feels better crafted than the usual gore flicks we get now days. There’s a lot to admire here – from the performances to the visual storytelling to the unbearable suspense. The story follows an East Coast punk group consisting of Pat (Anton Yelchin), Sam (Alia Shawkat), Reece (Joe Cole) and Tiger (Callum Turner) who pick up a lunch gig at a sleazy backwoods bar crammed with Neo Nazi white supremacists aka skinheads. Trouble begins when Pat runs back into the dressing room in order to pick his phone and finds Amber (Imogen Poots) standing next to her dead friend. The band immediately barricade the door to hold off the barbarian horde outside.

Things turn worse when Darcy (Patrick Stewart), the owner of the club and the drug kingpin for the Neo Nazi thugs, arrives to control the situation. He devises resourceful schemes to ensure that the outnumbered, outgunned, increasingly bloodied witnesses don’t make it through the night. Leading to a mostly-enclosed game of cat and mouse between the band members and the skinheads. As tensions and the need to escape intensify, so does the violence and brutality. The basic plot is very familiar and derivative of many thrillers, but that’s perfectly fine because the setting is original, the main characters are likable and the practically non- stop action footage is exhilarating and intense! I liked so many things about this film, the slow beginning which really lets you get a feel for the characters, the progression into an enclosed-location movie for a lot of its running time (I love single-location films), the bands performance of the anti Nazi song that starts the descend into chaos, and the very funny one-liners which are fortunately very frequently done, yet never hinder the serious mood one bit. What is perhaps most jarring about the film is that its entire premise springs out of a wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time scenario that spirals entirely out of control. The minute the terror kicks in, the film’s level of tension shoots up and remains there throughout the entire film, the violence keeps on humming, you just never know what sort of maniacal actions or retaliations that may occur, this is one of those films that consistently shocks you, leaving you to wonder who among the characters would survive because your guess is as good as the person next to you. I think what director Jeremy Saulnier has crafted here is a survival story within confined spaces, despite what you may or may not think about neo-Nazis, your stance on that becomes irrelevant when it all boils down to just a matter of escaping. The script and direction lend an increasing oppressiveness that comes on like a vice grip; the audience can easily sympathize with the arbitrariness of the entire premise, and the claustrophobic sense of inescapability is well-drawn out on screen.

The intelligence of the panicked punkers and the menace of the skinheads help to keep us attentive at all times to see what happens next. Although some expectations are met, there are enough plot twists to keep us thrilled and to make sense, unlike so many slasher, violence-induced films. Here, the band really has to play in tune, so to speak, facing mounting horrors such as a mangled arm and gruesome jugular feast by the teeth of an attack dog. Set in an allegorical way, most peaceful nations are dragged into violence because there are no alternatives, the band resorts to gruesome violence as the only answer to the carnage meted out by their captives. I like the realistic, albeit violent, way the plot progresses. The dog attacks, for instance, are gruesome to say the least and then there are also shotgun executions at close range and nasty acts committed with a box cutter. Well, it has to be so or we get no horror, and I get no vicarious thrill out of being unharmed. Except maybe psychologically. The film’s finale is predictable but extremely effective, and, barring a few convenient plot devices, is more or less believable. Writer/director Jeremy Saulnier doesn’t waste a beat. His focus is less on content than on form, less about building personalities than turning the screws. There is no back story to anyone, just a sprinkle of need-to-know information. Solid performances from all involved further elevate the film. For a film that’s plot is so constricted, the material demands solid performers, and we get that from everyone. The under-appreciated Anton Yelchin (popularly known as Chekov from the J.J. Abrams‘ Star Trek movies) continues his excellent work in smaller films. His vulnerable nature makes him a natural underdog to root for. Alia Shawkat, Imogen Poots, Callum Turner and Joe Cole are likable. But the real shocker comes in the form of Patrick Stewart. Known mostly for his naturally calm and mentor roles in his nerd favorite roles in Star Trek: The Next Generation and the X-Men films effectively plays a counterpoint as the aloof villain-in-charge with an army of intimidating henchmen. His harrowing performance gives this raw, edgy, awesomely impressive, little hard-hitting punk-rock movie even more of a visceral kick. This is one seriously scary dude mixing evil and eloquence, refinement and malevolence, and hell-bent on maintaining order anywhere things get messy. On the whole, ‘Green Room’ is an intense, frightening, thrilling and suspenseful survival drama film laced with laughs and an interesting sub cultural battle.