Green Room (2016) Review

"The Ain't Rights," a group of four young musicians playing abrasive punk rock, are traveling on the road playing an assortment of gigs while struggling to make ends meet. After a particularly underwhelming show in Seaside, Oregon draws a nearly empty and apathetic crowd, a radio show host offers them the chance to play at a small club outside of Portland. Desperate for any sort of income and exposure, they agree to travel and jump on the bill. However, when they arrive, they discover that not only is the venue seemingly in the middle of nowhere, but it is also a haven for neo-nazi skinheads. After their set is finished and they wish to pack up and hit the road, band member Pat walks into the green room, a place for band members to relax before and after performing, to retrieve a cell phone that has been left behind, but stumbles across two of the patrons standing over a dead woman with a knife in her head. Panicking, the entire band suddenly find themselves locked in by the bouncers, and those inside and outside of the club have no intention of letting them leave so easily after what they have witnessed.



Given that I am going to be heading out on the road in less than twenty-four hours, wherein I will eventually find myself enjoying the perks of a four day music festival in Baltimore, Maryland, I may just cut to the chase with this opening paragraph: save for a certain Marvel Studios flick that was released within this month, Jeremy Saulnier's third directorial foray into gritty, uneasy cinema, the aptly, if not simply titled Green Room, is my frontrunner for the best picture of 2016 that has been released to theaters. In layman's terms, it is really, really damn good. The amount of unnerving tension and flat-out dread that is felt throughout its ninety-five minute running time (which runs by quicker than one thinks that it would) is nothing short of exceptional. Saulnier (who also writes here), much like the earlier efforts from genre greats like Tobe Hooper and Wes Craven, has a knack for making the audience nervous from the get go, as is evidenced when our protagonists pull up to this venue that is apparently cut off from the rest of the world. Speaking from experience, my own band (cue cheap plug) has played at clubs like this one, and trust me when I say that should anything ever go awry at places such as these, you really do suspect that you are more helpless than you realize, and who knows how long help would come (if at all). Admiringly, the man does manage to sprinkle in small bits of black comedy here and there too, so you won't just be constantly grimacing.

As with Saulnier's previous release Blue Ruin, the film's propensity for rather alarming violence very much appears out of nowhere. Of course, compared to the overabundance of modern pop culture phenomenons, it is far from the goriest, but every single sequence and action packs more of a punch than any traditional slasher or Dimension Pictures production could ever churn out. As someone who has a relatively iron stomach, there were multiple moments in here that just had me wincing and emitting an audible gasp or pained groan. Green Room also boasts some top notch performances from an impressive gathering of decidedly underrated actors and actresses, including the usually reliable Anton Yelchin (Star Trek, Charlie Bartlett), Blue Ruin and Hellbenders alum Macon Blair (*waving hello in case he reads this*), and Imogen Poots (28 Weeks Later), who wears a "chelsea" haircut rather well if you ask this lonely, single fella....wait, can't get distracted here. Everyone shows up here with the absolute best of intentions, clearly fascinated by and embracing the script which they had previously read. The most surprising addition to Green Room is the casting of one Sir Patrick Stewart. While I myself will say that its always going to be difficult watching the esteemed thespian take part in anything that doesn't involve the Star Trek franchise, he knocks it out of the park by portraying an eerily calm, if not deceptively sinister club owner who is hiding far more sinister secrets than even his own employees or underlings would believe. He's the cherry on top of a very bloody sundae.

There is also a real hidden gem that stands out in Green Room, and that is the attention to detail when it comes to the musical side. Perhaps I'm just a sucker for any motion picture that actually seems to correctly get the vibes of anything associated with punk rock, heavy metal, or hardcore, but from I have heard, Saulnier and his cohorts/crew spent quite a few years involved with the late 90s/early 2000s scene, and you can tell. Don't believe me? Well, Toxic Holocaust mastermind Joel Grind helps contribute to The Ain't Rights own tunes, and the list of "thank yous" during the end credits reads like your friend's pretty awesome iTunes collection. So shut your yap. There is also a rather dreary (but great!) score permeated throughout, and a solid mixture of licensed music heard amidst the chaos. 

If my memory serves me well (which is debatable at best, as I can attest that goldfish have a better chance at remembering little things than I do), I previously wrote that director Jeremy Saulnier could very well be on his way to becoming the next Joel or Ethan Coen. Well, since my own posts' views have increased a tad bit over the past few years, I will boldly repeat myself and cement that opinion. The craftsmanship of a picture like Green Room is beyond impressive, and for those seeking out a fresh, bold, darkly funny, and quite frankly unsettling piece of cinema, the man's third full-length effort (his second to be released in theaters), I can not encourage you enough to seek this out and give it your hard-earned cash. Trust me, as great as a picture like Captain America: Civil War is, it isn't going anywhere; it'll be fine. Please support the smaller guys in this case, so that their repertoire and cast may grow even larger with future endeavors, and eventually warrant not just wider releases for fresh projects, but even more accolades and awards.

Or if you miss this particular one in theaters, you can at least buy Saulnier and Blair a round of drinks should you run into them in or around the Austin or Portland areas. They had the good sense to put Midnight, Bad Brains, and Napalm Death onto the movie's soundtrack after all.

Blue Ruin (2013) Review

Homely Dwight is living a paltry and strange life. He sneaks into houses to bathe, eats out of trash cans, and sleeps in his car. One day, Dwight is confronted by a police officer, who informs him of a figure from his past that is being released from prison, but advises him to not do anything particularly dangerous. Immediately thereafter, Dwight turns his life around shockingly quick, planning to carry out an act of vengeance that will take him back to his own childhood home in Virginia, and reunite him with his estranged friends and family.


Talk about coming back from the grave. Director Jeremy Saulnier's previous effort, 2007's Murder Party, was, in its simplest description, a horror-comedy version of The Breakfast Club (and a film I desperately need to watch again, as I haven't seen it since my days of working at Hollywood Video). It was pretty solid for what it was, but I never imagined that I'd see much else from anyone involved, be it cast or crew-wise, in the near future. Six years later, however, I've discovered that Saulnier had a new project out playing at Wilmington's own Cucalorus Film Festival: a revenge film titled Blue Ruin, for which he dumped a lot of money, a Kickstarter campaign, and a lot of unbridled anger into. What it ends up translating into, however, is a beast of a different nature from what his fans will expect.


The old statement of "you can cut the tension with a knife" is admittedly overused to the point of annoyance these days, but Saulnier proves his worth as an excellent up-and-coming filmmaker by finding ways to keep you glued and keep these feelings of nervousness up high. Comparisons to the more heavily dramatic work of the Coen Bros (see: Blood Simple, No Country For Old Men) wouldn't be unfair to make either, as this is a very quiet film peppered with shocking moments of graphic violence and the occasional bits of black comedy here and there (so you Murder Party fans won't feel completely alienated). I suspect that more squeamish individuals will steer clear due to these very reasons, but all of the above seem to go hand in hand with the basis of a revenge film in this day and age. Comparisons to the still-fresh Drive wouldn't be outrageous to make either, as like Nicholas Refn's film, it can be patient in its buildup, though I believe the main character behind Blue Ruin is infinitely more fascinating.


While Blue Ruin's moments of violence are indeed surprising, the (d)evolution of Dwight's character is all the more alluring and tragic, as his past and reasons are disassembled before our very eyes through the stories of others, giving motives behind his actions, be they reasonable or not. The old saying "an eye for an eye" doesn't necessarily ring true these days, since it just begs the question: when does your own revenge and need for blood to be shed truly stop? Dwight is portrayed by actor Macon Blair, who may (or at least should) find his resume becoming much more crowded after this, as he turns in a very understated and quite magnificent performance. Truth be told, everyone is shining here, but the film's primary focus is based around his character, and he has to obviously give you reason to care and does so with a eerily tragic demeanor. He is sympathetic, but not oblivious to his own downward spiral, even occasionally uttering that he himself would deserve to die.


Blue Ruin is an absolutely mesmerizing movie. A moving, startling, smart, and powerful motion picture that deserves to be seen by a much larger audience, or at least by more than just the festival circuit. It is my favorite revenge thriller and character study piece that I've witnessed since my first viewing of I Saw The Devil, and could end up sneaking its way into my top two or top three films of the year when I decide to assemble that list itself. For those more intrigued by lower budget cinema, this isn't merely recommended: rather, it is vital.