Green Room follows a punk band caught in a wrong-place-at-the-wrong time situation as they’re forced to fight their way out of entrapment by a group of Nazi sympathisers.
After being offered a gig at a skinhead bar, the punk band “The Ain’t Rights” accidentally witness a murder. They become prisoners of the establishment, led by Darcy Banker (Patrick Stewart) who obviously doesn’t want them to leave and call the police. The band members are then forced into a violent struggle for survival as they try to escape.
The story is a classic tale of survival, however it is quite clever in its style. Writer/director Jeremy Saulnier manages to keep the tension running high through the film by setting up the skinheads as almost non-villainous in the early parts of the film – just a bunch of normal guys caught up in a tricky situation, which gives you a glimmer of hope that there may actually be a happy ending. As the skinheads plans are slowly revealed and the violence is upped, we know it’s not going to be the case.
The film stars the late Anton Yelchin as one of the four band members and he really shines in this role. In fact the entire cast including the rest of the band and the skinheads nail their performances. Each character has their own unique trait that the cast members bring to life very well. Patrick Stewart plays the leader of the skinhead gang and delivers a fine performance as always, however his character came off a bit more stoic rather than menacing or even frightening.
Green Room is the type of film where it’s best not knowing much about it before going into it, in order to get the highest level shock factor (though it will still surely shock you). The film is violent in a way that you’d normally only see in a horror film, so it’s safe to classify this film as one. The lack of saturation in the picture also adds that extra element to signify danger is lurking around each corner.
Overall, Green Room is a suspenseful, engaging and brutally violent film with excellent performances and one to watch if you like movies that may crawl under your skin a bit.
Fun Fact:
Patrick Stewart said in an interview that when he finished reading the script at his country home in England, it was so terrifying that he locked up his house, turned on the security system and poured himself a Scotch. He then knew that he wanted to play the Darcy Banker role because a character that horrifying would be an incredible challenge and make for a compelling film.
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