“Violence is always the last option, but if that time comes, it is the only option.” - John Gilmour
Green Room is a story of extremes. It features extreme music, extreme ideology, extreme violence and extreme resolution. It is a hyper-violent home invasion thriller that explores the most basic but fundamental themes of survival, violence and good and evil. On one end of the spectrum is a group of punk musicians just trying to play music and in typical punk fashion, resist the status quo. On the other end is a group of ideological extremists who survive less on the concept of outcasts finding outcasts but rather outcasts blind hating the differences that make humans unique from one another.
With the zealots comes a kind of confidence in what they are willing to defend against or in the name of. They know, to a certain degree, their willingness to resort to violence and just how drastic they will become. But their weakness also lies within their confidence because as formidable as they may be, they also believe their enemies to be weak, often underestimating how far normal people are willing to go in the name of survival. A dog is a descendant of a wolf, no matter how small or docile it may be, those instincts are buried deep in its DNA. A human, no matter how civil, submissive or amicable we are in everyday society, in moments of extreme survival, we are capable of terrible things - great, yes, but terrible.
This is an advantage for the uninitiated punks who, unlike their unwarranted oppressors, have unwillingly and unexpectedly walked into a situation they are, to put it mildly, wholly unprepared to handle. Despite the punks' own ignorance to how far they are willing to go to survive, they suddenly have the opportunity to find out, leaving their newfound enemies at a bit of a loss. For every instance that the neo-Nazis believe they have bested their unwanted witnesses, the punks can test their own limitations and push themselves further if the situation demands it. It’s a horrific game of who can be more violent and there are no practice rounds. This is for keeps.
In this innocent little tale, Pat, Sam and the rest of The Ain’t Rights are heading home. On the way they make a stop at a rural bar to play a show and make some quick money. The only worry, the bar is home to a rather large group of skinhead white supremacists. But they’re paying bigots and this little-known punk band isn’t in a position to turn down a paid gig. So, despite massive red flags to the contrary, they play the show and surprisingly it goes off without issue. It’s not until they are leaving that everything goes horribly awry.
Returning to the green room, Pat discovers a horror scene finding a dead woman on the floor, a knife protruding from her skull. From this moment on, every decision these four friends make will ultimately determine if they live or die on this day. They are trapped, isolated and have no real weapons to defend themselves. They are outnumbered and the mastermind behind their planned demise is smart, cunning, hateful, organized, ceaseless and unwavering. By all accounts, The Ain’t Rights ain’t going to be alive much longer. But as we discussed earlier, it is a time of self-discovery and these innocent little punk rock enthusiasts are about to find their inner killers.
Written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier, Green Room is a continuation of his desire to explore extreme violence. In Blue Ruin, it’s about revenge. Ill-conceived vengeance by an inexperienced, normal man. The violence is harsh, unforgiving, shockingly graphic and for us as well as him, it’s unexpected in the most gruesome ways he or we never could have anticipated. His goal with the violence is to bring it into reality, to showcase its ugliness rather than any kind of glorification. He continues this with Green Room.
He creates these scenarios destined for savagery, captures it all in great detail and condemns his characters to a fate that seemingly only he and nature itself could have predicted. He is anything but sentimental about his characters, choosing story progression over character survival meaning whoever best serves the story as a corpse or survivor will become so accordingly.
Everyone plays their part beautifully. Each is a coward or leader as dictated by their character. This works equally for the opposition as well. The mastermind to this contained chaos is Darcy, played menacingly by Patrick Stewart. As Darcy, we see a side of Stewart we’ve never seen before. He is despicable but calculated. He is determined, unwavering and disturbingly calm. He is a force of terribleness and his determination to maintain his concept of the status quo is tireless. He is brilliantly hateful and legitimately unsettling. Unfortunately for Darcy and his mindless, malleable, minions, these punks, as innocuous as they seem, are built for opposition to the status quo.
Green Room is anxiety inducing. It is riddled with horrific, brutal, graphic violence that will make you grit your teeth in discomfort. It’s unforgiving, relentless and a bit insane. The good guys don’t stand a chance, the bad guys are true evil and this isn’t a fairytale where the good guys are destined to win in the end. It is a waking nightmare of extremes that aim only to keep you off kilter and unprepared. It is a thrilling experience but not one for the faint of heart, or stomach.
Rated R For: strong brutal graphic violence, gory images, language and some drug content
Runtime: 95 minutes
After Credits Scene: No
Genre: Crime, Horror, Thriller
Starring: Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, Patrick Stewart, Alia Shawkat
Directed By: Jeremy Saulnier
Out of 10
Story: 9/ Acting: 10/ Directing: 9.5/ Visuals: 10
OVERALL: 9.5/10
Buy to Own: Yes.
Check out the trailer below:
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