Among the details “Green Room” (2015) gets right are the disgusting conditions backstage – and actually, throughout the whole club – for a punk-rock bar band in the type of music scene where each band member comes away with $6 and change after a show.
The punk aesthetic
Before getting to the parts that made “Green Room” one of the most critically acclaimed horror films of the 2010s, writer-director Jeremy Saulnier (“Hold the Dark”) wisely introduces us to the lifestyle of the Ain’t Rights, a band made up of Pat (Anton Yelchin), Sam (Alia Shawkat), Tiger (Callum Turner) and Reece (Joe Cole). When we meet them, they’re waking up to find their van crashed in a cornfield, and they aren’t overly surprised.
“Green Room” doesn’t glamorize the lifestyle that includes drinking, sleeping it off and horrible-but-passionate music. But we respect their commitment. If I went into the film knowing nothing about it, I’d keep watching just because I like these four people and I’m interested to see how wild this way of life can get.
“Green Room” (2015)
Director: Jeremy Saulnier
Writer: Jeremy Saulnier
Stars: Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, Patrick Stewart
This isn’t a music faux-umentary, although I suppose one could stretch and say it’s a sort of horror-film equivalent of punk. Saulnier makes a great film while seeming to make a cheap, grungy, disgusting film.
It couldn’t have been too cheap, though, particularly in the casting budget. Patrick Stewart enters in a chillingly against-type part as club owner Darcy. A woman is killed in the titular room, and the Ain’t Rights accidentally see the body. This means Darcy has to deal with the young punkers in some way.
“Green Room” gets a little confusing and chaotic for a while, but I think we’re supposed to be kept off-balance and know just as much as the band knows. For example, Imogen Poots’ Amber, a friend of the dead girl, is also in the room. What’s her deal?
The realism enhances the horror
Ultimately, “Green Room” isn’t a mystery, though. Instead, it asks “What could you bring yourself to do in a survival situation?” as it scarily illustrates the methods a cult uses to cover up a crime and keep the law from discovering their operation. It’s darkly fascinating how by-the-book Darcy is with his horrific instructions to his underlings.
With several known actors in the cast, it’s daring how Saulnier puts the characters in harm’s way. This isn’t a film where you can safely assume all your favorites will get through just fine. Yelchin and Poots particularly stand out, though, as Pat and Amber get creative in order to survive.
“Green Room” is a like another color-coded horror flick, “Red State” (2011), but here the events are more understated and plausible. Some moments are shocking by the standards of any horror film, but it’s Saulnier’s early work at establishing the people and lifestyle that makes everything after it so gripping.
Owners of punk dive bars should be happy “Green Room” wasn’t a huge hit, because it paints what happens in green rooms as being even worse than what you imagined.