Written and directed by one of the most promising rising directors of this time, Jeremy Saulnier, Green Room is one of those perfectly packaged thrillers, with originality of premise and style, perfect pacing and tight well-knit editing and whilst it may be a little chaotic it never looses the investment in character.
One of the big surprises of 2016, after all the buzz I simply couldn't wait to check this movie out, its intriguing premise and unique cast were fascinating and I can confidently say that the film delivers on both. Whilst we have had many thrillers in the past where people get locked into a room and have to find a way to escape, we haven't yet had one with this unique voice behind it. Saulnier manages to spin around with the premise and deliver a thriller that is stylish without being noisy or overdone. The catalyst of the whole plot works perfectly and the characters who are set up brilliantly in the first ten minutes work wonderfully in this environment.
The instant world building the director manages to convey through visuals is absorbing, it places the viewer right in the middle of the chaos and manages to never loose the geography of the setting. The cinematography of the film early on delivers some beautiful and insightful shots that perfectly serve the story and set up, but once shit starts hitting the fan the editing of the film comes majorly into play and does a superb job. The tense atmosphere conveyed through color and pace never leaves the screen and pervades the audience in every second of the movie until the end.
Just as deserving is definitely the make up department which has a couple of really key moments that hit the viewer like a brick and contribute in giving a sense of anxiety and fear that once again is appended to the audience for the whole duration. Ultimately it also comes down to the three central performances by Yelchin, Poots and Stewart, whom are all remarkably great, the highlight definitely being Poots for me who manages to totally disappear in the role to the point that I didn't know she was in the film until I read the cast list. I have been a big supporter of her and can't wait to see what she gives us in the future.
Where the movie slightly looses its flow is in clarity of motivations and the logistical movements where I found myself repeatedly uncertain. As I said before, you never loose the thrill nor the location and empathy for the characters, you are always behind them and want them to get the f**k out of that hell. The problem resides in the fact that too many times I was unclear on why what was happening was happening, why were the skinheads acting the way they were and why were they going batsh*t crazy. This also takes something away from Stewart's performance which on its own stands as great, yet never really plays into the big picture because of the chaos which ensues not being ever understandable by the audience.
Green Room still remains a more than worthy effort, a great thriller, a fantastic lesson in editing and a magnificent dose of anxiety and adrenaline.
James's Score: 7.5/10
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