I saw Green Room at ten o’clock on a Saturday morning; a time when my sleepy brain can just about handle some gentle comedy, or perhaps a documentary about pandas. The latest film from Jeremy Saulnier (director of the excellent Blue Ruin), therefore came as a bit of a shock to the system – a more natural home for this punk-rock gore-fest would be a midnight screening at your local fleapit.
Punk band The Ain’t Rights (whose members include Anton Yelchin, Alia Shawkat and Joe Cole) have been touring the Pacific Northwest to mediocre success, when they are offered a gig at an isolated venue owned by Darcy (Patrick Stewart). Seeing a chance to make a few bucks, the band agree, despite warnings that the venue is owned and operated by skinheads. While in the green room after the show, the band witness a murder and find themselves trapped and at the mercy of a large group of heavily armed, psychotic neo-Nazis. As they attempt their escape, bloody mayhem ensues.
And my god, is it bloody! Dispatching with the more meditative pacing of Blue Ruin, Saulnier launches us into a full on, explosively violent romp full of moments that will make the more delicate audience member shield their eyes. The gloomy aesthetic of the film references the grime of both punk rock and midnight movies but does so in an extremely stylish way. Sequences of mayhem filmed in the dim environs of the club are never difficult to follow and the overall effect is that of extreme tension punctured by well-handled violence.
The cast, meanwhile, manage to convince as a bunch of touring punks rather than Hollywood poseurs. They have an ease with each other that speaks of long days and nights spent in a cramped tour bus and importantly, they look and sound authentic on stage. Patrick Stewart may look on paper to be a surprising choice for his role as neo-Nazi patriarch but aside from a less than convincing American accent, he has the misleading veil of respectability that these men usually use to their advantage.
All in all, Green Room is a refreshingly high-octane piece of filmmaking that straddles the line between bloody horror and siege movie. A thrilling watch for those with the stomach to handle it.