(spoiler free)
‘Green Room’ is a film that I knew nothing about for a long time. The extent of my knowledge was the poster that I saw go up in my local cinema a few months back. Then all of a sudden out of nowhere endless positive reviews came flooding in, the hype went from zero to sixty in what seemed like a matter of days. This meant my interest in the film really rose quite high and I made ‘Green Room’ the top priority from this weeks releases.
Without the knowledge of the violent and gory scenes which were just around the corner I may have found ‘Green Room’ a little hard to get on board with at first. I usually enjoy musical moments within film but I can’t say I’m much of a fan of the punk style rock music featured here. Just a personal preference though, this style of music makes sense for the story and I thought added to the uncomfortable atmosphere that the film holds. Helping to convey this atmosphere was the cast, who all do a great job. I was particularly impressed by all of the band members, made up off relatively unknown actors and actresses I thought they all performed very well, being convincing both as band members and when thrown into the horrendous situation that they are. Anton Yelchin may be the most well known of the band due to the ‘Star Trek’ movies but I honestly thought that they all did such a great job that there was no standout performer. Aside from the band other cast members included Imogen Poots who plays quite an oddball of a character but she does so suitably. Patrick Stewart also stars and delivers a solid performance seeming scarily at ease within this more sinister role.
The reports of this being a tense film are certainly correct. Tension is the backbone of ‘Green Room’ and as soon as it kicks in it never lets up. The tension is so effective due to the shocks and moments that deliver throughout the movie, there is serious threat here and that is proven on many occasions. The film holds an ’18’ rating for good reason as it is violent, gruesome and gory. It reminded me of the film, ‘Eden Lake’. Both films are about terrifying situations that could happen accompanied by grotesque acts of violence resulting in brutal scenes. The kind of scenes that you don’t enjoy watching but due to the overarching narrative you dare not look away as you’re desperate to find out what happens. It’s a shame that the film was hyped up so much in such a short space of time as I felt it didn’t quite deliver in terms of what it was built up to be. It’s quite a simple film, and one that is executed brilliantly but it was maybe the simpleness of the film that let it down against the hype of being the best film of the year which many cited it as.
‘Green Room’ is simple but effective. The cast brilliantly bring to life this horrifying story filled with tension, suspense and violence. Many scenes are so gruesome that you may not want to watch but the narrative as a whole is gripping in a way that you’re eyes are fixed to the screen. Fans of punk music will likely enjoy the film even more but as long as you’re a thriller junkie you’ll find a fix with ‘Green Room’.
Rating – 8/10
Question: Is ‘Green Room’ your favourite film of the year so far, if not what is?
(Leave your answers in the comments section below!)
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