Jeremy Saulnier's mesmerizing revenge drama Blue Ruin may not have turned the director into a household name, but it garnered enough critical praise to open the door for his latest offering, a visceral thriller set against the backdrop of the punk rock scene. Featuring a chilling performance from Patrick Stewart as the leader of a white supremacist faction, Green Room's lengthy festival run has increased the film's hype to a fever pitch - and with good reason.
Strapped for cash and hundreds of miles from their hometown, The Ain't Rights - Pat (Anton Yelchin), Sam (Alia Shawkat), Reece (Joe Cole) and Tiger (Callum Turner) - reluctantly accept a last-minute gig at a remote location. "It's mostly boots and braces down there," the promoter warns, referencing the heavy skinhead population, but the band shrugs it off, hoping the guaranteed payout will be enough to keep their gas tank full. After tearing through their set and collecting the cash, Sam pops backstage to grab her cell phone - and witnesses a horrifically violent act in the process. Club manager Gabe (Macon Blair) confiscates the phone before the authorities can be called, and the band find themselves trapped in the green room and held at gunpoint while venue owner Darcy (Patrick Stewart) is notified.
Before he even appears onscreen, we know he's not someone to be trifled with - it's evident in the way his subordinates speak about him, uttering his name in hushed tones as if saying it too loudly will incur some sort of unspeakable wrath. And trust me when I say, there's plenty of that to go around - from the moment he arrives, Darcy is a sinister and terrifying presence. He speaks slowly and softly, ordering his followers to commit atrocities as calmly as if he were reciting a shopping list, and his tranquility somehow makes him seem more threatening than if he were barking orders. No matter what obstacles may arise, you can bet that Darcy has multiple solutions in mind - and all of them deadly.
Stewart's diabolical performance will be the major draw here, and while his character doesn't even show up until about 30 minutes into the film, he certainly makes the most of his screen time. Calculating and methodical, Darcy is the type of cinematic villain that could be poised to become an instant icon, and it's refreshing to watch Stewart take on a completely different sort of role than we're used to seeing.
But the younger actors are the ones tasked with carrying the bulk of Green Room's emotional stakes, and everyone is up to the task, particularly Yelchin and Imogen Poots, who has a pivotal role as another club patron. Every relationship feels authentic and genuine - there's a recurring theme about being stranded on a desert island and choosing a single band to listen to, and these are the sort of conversations we can all imagine having with our own group of friends. We quickly forget that these are just characters on a screen - they feel as real as the person sitting next to us.
Juxtaposing overwhelming tension with moments of pitch-black humor and flashes of extreme violence, Green Room is a fierce and electrifying effort from Saulnier. There's a pervasive feeling of unease, like anything can happen at any time - and it often does, frequently subverting genre conventions and defying expectation at nearly every turn to ensure that its audience never knows what's coming next. It's brutal, ballsy, and brilliantly executed, a truly original thriller and an early contender for one of the year's best films.
