Green Room

Dir: Jeremy Saulnier

2016

*****

Green Room, much like Jeremy Saulnier's 2013 film Blue Ruin, is impossible to attach to one particular genre and even if you try, it stands out like a sore thumb. I mean that in the best possible way. If you see it as a thriller, then it is one of the most unique thrillers made in the last few years. If you see it as a horror, then it is the most contemporary horror I've seen since Straw Dogs. Either way, it's not like any other film in any genre and I think that's the reason why I really like it. It's completely unpredictable, although I wouldn't say the structure of the story is really anything out of the ordinary. Green Room follows a punk band, travelling around the west coast of America, looking for gigs. After being let down by a promoter, they find themselves playing at an unscheduled venue frequented by neo-nazi skinheads. Realizing that they are playing to the wrong crowd, and in true punk style, they begin their set with a cover of the Dead Kennedy's hit 'Nazi Punks F**k off'. This doesn't go down particularly well but things take a turn for the worst when they witness a murder after playing their set. Neo-nazi skinheads are scary enough, but organised Neo-nazi skinheads are something else. Why bother with ghosts, sharks, monsters or clowns when far-right white supremacists with a taste for loud music and violence is a real thing? Punks vs skinheads sounds like a low budget British hooligan film, and not a good one at that, but there is something captivating about Saulnier's story that I've not seen before. If you know who Neil Kopp is and know and love the films he has produced over the years then maybe you've got a good idea what to expect and will know if you're likely to enjoy it or not. Personally I love it, it is 2016's surprise film, like Bone Tomahawk was to 2015. It will either become a cult hit or will be the blueprint of all modern horror/thrillers. They even get the skinhead/punk thing almost right, which is generally unheard of in film. If intensity isn't your thing and you're not a fan of gore, then surely the idea of Sir Patrick Stewart playing a political leader of a far-right skinhead heroin laboratory will gain your curiosity? I think it's a phenomenal film, not a classic five star film but I just can't fault it. It grabs your attention from the start and doesn't let go until the end credits roll. The sound quality does let it down somewhat, the actors mumble and it's very hard to work out what is being said for a lot of the film but the film's relentlessness more than makes up for it, if you're willing to get on board.