Sunday, May 1, 2016

"Green Room" (2015)

Here's an example of taking a worn out concept and adding something new. A remake of sorts to "Deliverance" this has four punk rock players who journey out to the outskirts of town to play at a neo-Nazi party. Things turn wild when one witnesses a murder. Then, instead of the bad being baddies, they attempt to re-evaluate their situation. This isn't an us against them, in that sense. Everyone overreacts and things turn from bad to tragic.

And it's not necessarily a horror film. People die...and they don't die heroically. They just...die. There is raw truth to that. But there is also painful violence. The gear twisting gore that is more shocking than...well, it's still stomach churning. But it doesn't wallow in it (fuck you Eli Roth). It moves at a natural pace. Some people do become de-sensitized to the violence, to which you're often surprised who rises to the top.

Patrick Stewart has a fantastic...role? Cameo? He's the leader of these guys who attempts to settle the situation. In a wonderful use of his Shakespearean diction, you almost believe that he isn't as evil as he says he is. In a world where no one trusts anyone, it makes sense these kids don't even believe authority, or...where people inexplicably mouth off to people with guns. We just are floating between brazen balls to lethargy to...apathy? In my day, a guy points a gun to my face, I don't tell him to go fuck himself.

That's what makes this movie unique. It's a nice taut piece of storytelling and interested in seeing what director Jeremy Saulnier makes next.

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