Green Room – Film Review by Emily Elphinstone

Director: Jeremy Saulnier
Writer: Jeremy Saulnier
Stars: Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, Alia Shawkat

After going down a storm at last year’s Cannes film festival, writer/director Jeremy Saulnier’s new film Green Room finally hits cinemas on May 13th. Punk rock band The Ain’t Rights are struggling to make ends meet on their tour of diners and dive bars, siphoning petrol just to make it from gig to disappointing gig.  Desperate for money, they agree to play in a remote Oregan roadhouse, despite misgivings about the ‘right wing, or maybe very left’ skinhead audience.

Though their set begins with the risky selection of Dead Kennedy’s track ‘Nazi Punks F**k Off’, they make it through the gig unscathed; planning to beat a hasty retreat after the show. But when a member of the band inadvertently witnesses a murder, they are forced back into the Green Room, where barricading themselves in becomes the only option. Owner Darcy (an ice cold Patrick Stewart) and his gang of white-supremacist henchmen swiftly assemble outside, while the whole band, along with fellow victim Amber (a barely recognisable Imogen Poots) struggle to formulate a plan. From its road movie/thriller beginnings, Green Room quickly transforms into a classic house of horror, complete with machetes and bloodthirsty pit bull terriers; and the mix of hardcore music and feedback only adds to the air of desperation.

With the gradual build of tension, the descent into gore is genuinely shocking, assisted by the makeup department’s ultra-real but not overbearing special effects. This is supported by the stunning design and cinematography, which creates a brilliantly evocative setting and a clear sense of where exactly they are.

Unfortunately there are moments when pace drops in the second half of the film, due in part to a lack of character development (particularly amongst the skinheads). Interestingly, this is most prominent in scenes which should be particularly tense; while quieter moments are more successful in creating atmosphere, with a nice through-line of the band members’ choices for their ultimate desert island disc. As production manager Gabe, Macon Blair gives one of the most memorable performances of the film, and the central cast (particularly Anton Yelchin as bassist Pat) deliver far more than the naïve victims usually associated with the genre. Overall, Green Room is far more than a slasher film; and Saulnier’s intelligent script ensures that the brutality is merely part of the story, not the reason for it.