'Green Room' Review

Have you ever wondered about what goes on backstage at a concert when a rock band is preparing or have just finished their set? You can imagine things such as large amounts of alcohol consumption, drug taking and even sex. Its safe to say you would think of all kinds of shenanigans going on with mainly good intentions. For musicians sake, I hope their experiences are not the same as the unfortunate characters in 'Green Room'.

If you are looking for a film that might put you off going to venues in secluded areas, then this is the film for you. 'Green Room' is pretty terrifying when you come to think about it and is probably a fear for a lot of people that you wouldn't always think of. Four youths led by Pat (Anton Yelchin) look to play their punk rock music in venues as they live the life they always dreamed of. However things turn south when they finish their set at a venue filled with white supremacists. The band alongside  the already trapped Amber (Imogen Poots) are in the wrong place at the wrong time and due to no fault of their own, they are held captive as they have seen too much.

'Green Room' really is quite frightening when things go wrong and creates a situation that would make anyone feel worried and most definitely uncomfortable. The scenes when they are being held captive create so much tension and as we know one thing has happened, we don't know yet just how sinister these skinheads could be. And being perfectly honest, I never expected the film to be as brutal as it ended up being.

On a few occasions you will find yourself squirming due to some of the gruesome acts on screen. This makes the film most definitely not for the faint hearted. The acts of violence within this film can be very hard to watch but at least it has a point to its brutality. For both parties, this is the last chance with Pat and co to escape and for the supremacists, to stop these young adults from undercovering what has went on on this unfortunate night. This isn't overdone and does well not to just become unbearable. There is a shock factor to it but it does well to not make you sick of it by completely overdoing and heavily focussing on the brutality over the story.

Patrick Stewart is the owner of the venue where these atrocities happen and I didn't think I could've ever be quite scared of the man and have quite a hatred for him. He plays a villain who will go to any cost to stop his prisoners from leaving. However some of the other villains within this aren't as great and do make some awfully questionable decisions. It even takes notice of this in the film which makes you question why they continued to do stupid things. Stewart also can't be called a fantastic villain. He only ever takes control of negotiations and leaves a lot of his work to his cronies. Stewart doesn't have a moment in 'Green Room' where you are really taken back by him due to him not doing most of the dirty work. Stewart had the potential to be a great villain but unfortunately, it does not pan out that way.

The film does a good job of combining its tones. At times there are parts that are quite funny and that you will get some laughs from. The film does feature quite a bit of dark humour and this is carried quite a lot by Poots' performance. This is mainly at the start of the film with their punk rock attitudes being a driving point for this. You definitely feel that disappear as it shifts into the next gear and the gritty parts of the film really take over. After that it is filled to the brim with tension and you really can't guess where this movie is going to go. Unpredictability is what you would associate with this film however there are a few things that are quite repetitive. Due to it mainly being set in a small location, I guess it gets a little leeway with this.

'Green Room' really is a film just about being able to survive. A great credit to the film is that it doesn't try to fill the movie with deeper and hidden messages. It is fairly straight forward but that allows the film to fully focus on the story without being distracted by unneeded sub plots. It sticks to it job and doesn't over complicate things.

Final Verdict = 

Most definitely not one for all viewers but if you don't mind a bit of brutality and want a tension filled and scary thriller then 'Green Room' is the film for you!

So will you be seeing 'Green Room' when it comes out? I hope this review was useful and maybe convinced you to see it but you have been warned about certain aspects. Once again thank you for reading, it is much appreciated!

By Angus McGregor