I really wanted to like Green Room. It got a ton of good press, has a lot of good people in it, and I really liked writer/director Jeremy Saulnier's last film Blue Ruin. And it's not like Green Room is a big departure from that film - I was expecting a lot of tension, explosive scenes of violence, and people making bad choices. But while Green Room is undoubtedly a well-crafted film, it was just a little too unpleasant for my liking.
And look, I'm bringing some baggage into this one. First off, our recent election. Seeing a movie about skinheads at this point in America's history just hit a with a little more intensity and hit too close to the bone. Patrick Stewart's skinhead gang leader Darcy probably has too much baggage to be a part of the Trump administration, but he sure as hell would have campaigned hard for the man. I just think it would have stung a little less had I seen it prior to November 8th, you know? I mean, if a really shitty ghost got elected president, maybe The Ghost Club would have been hard to watch too. Also, Dogs. Green Room prominently features a skinhead dude who has pit-bull attack dogs and uses them as weapons. He talks about dog-fighting and all that shit. Just the reminder that Yes, That Is A Thing That People Do just bums me out. And the dogs are in it quite a bit, and while they're not outright mistreated or anything, their presence still makes me a little sad. So I don't know - I'm not sure if I was just looking for escapism and got constantly reminded of several Real and Very Terrible Things, but those elements of Green Room just didn't sit well with me.
Maybe your mileage will vary.
My Synopsis: Crusty punk band The Aren't Rights book a last minute show at an isolated bar in the woods of Oregon. There's a good turnout, although a sizable contingent of the crowd are skinheads. Things seem to go okay - the band is uncomfortable but is hustling their way out of there when they witness a vicious crime. The club owners half talk/half trap them into staying... and then things get ugly.
Elaborate Genre: Intense Crime Thriller
Overall: Really well done. Intense, and sometimes surprisingly gory. Unpleasant.
Green Room is a very well put together film. It looks great from top to bottom - it's bookended by scenes in the beautiful wilderness of Oregon/the Pacific coast, which provides a nice contrast to the mostly singular setting of the titular green room. But said green room (and surrounding skinhead bar) is appropriately dingy, and it's shot in a way that you get a good feel for the geography of the place. It's an important element of an "escape" type picture, one that isn't always well done but is nicely executed here.
The acting is good across the board. Even though a lot of what's required is just "be terrified" or "be a menacing asshole," there are some nuances and shades of grey here, on the skinhead side in particular. You don't get any "skinhead with a heart of gold" characters, but it's a tricky line to walk - showing that these characters actually have a human side. But it's all handled rather deftly. It is interesting to note that the majority of the cast seems to be British actors playing Americans, but whatever.
Probably the most notable thing about the film is the gore. It's not a splatter-fest by any means, but when it hits, it counts. There is some really gruesome shit happening in Green Room, and it's not the kind of film that pulls any punches. And to be honest, it's kind of a hard film to classify. Does it belong here? It's listed as horror on imdb (along with Crime and Thriller), and I've seen some horror sites cover it, so I'll count it. But without the gore factor, I don't think it's a horror film at all. It's undeniably tense, but there's nothing else here that would be in your standard issue horror flicks. Shitty criminals doing shitty things, even with machetes, does not make it horror, you know? Maybe more of a suspense thriller? But that's splitting hairs. Honestly, I think the horror label helps because it serves as a kind of warning about the gore - I can't see anyone getting into Green Room that isn't at least tolerant of the genre.
So yeah, I've prattled on enough about Green Room. Honestly, I'm just trying to fill space. I had to stop writing about this last night, because I really didn't have anything to say - and maybe I still don't. It just wasn't an enjoyable film for me to revisit. It's clearly well-made, and deserves all of the accolades it's gotten. But it's also tough to watch. So long as you can stomach it, it's absolutely worth seeing.
I would conditionally recommend this film.
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