“He still breathing? Let him bleed…”
GREEN ROOM is extreme. An indie band is in the absolute wrong place at the absolute wrong time. After the band performs at a rural locale, they accidentally walk in on the aftermath of a murder committed by skin heads. The impending doom of the film is such a fast burn and with each act it escalates at the most rapid pace possible. You can’t watch the gruesomeness of what’s happening, but you can’t look away either.
This film is the hardest R rating in recent memory. No, it’s not over-the-top violence like DEADPOOL or a Tarantino film; the violence is all too real, all too frightening. The onscreen extremism is effective in two parts. Visually, it’s stomach turning. Razor blades, machetes, and pitbulls are all weapons of heinous destruction. The second part is the psychological warfare that is strategically released by the Neo Nazi leader, Patrick Stewart.
The casting of Patrick Stewart may be the most genius casting since William Hurt’s turn in A HISTORY OF VIOLECNE. Writer/director Jeremy Saulnier knew exactly what he had with Patrick Stewart. Stewart cashes in on his careers worth of affability to give a frightening and horrifying performance.
Saulnier brilliantly constructs a films that is so terrifying, that it gives Lars von Trier at his absolute darkest a run for his money. GREEN ROOM is amazing. Sean Porter’s cinematography not only pops, but also casts a shadow over images that misdirect us in a brilliant way.
The biggest gut punch from the film is that there are actual people like this. The White Power movement, while subtle at times, is still a very large demographic of America, some more extreme as others. There isn’t an explanation as to why they do what they do, or believe what they believe – because they are so filled with hatred that nothing else matters. And that’s the scariest part of GREEN ROOM. It is reality. Man is the cruelest animal.
Podcasting Them Softly 