Riveting and realistic

Rating: 8/10 (10 May 2019)

Green Room is one of the best thrillers I have seen in some time. Going in, I did have somewhat high expectations because the premise itself is original and interesting enough to pique curiosity without seeing any trailers or clips.
The beginning of the first act feels a little disjointed and I thought could have benefited from a little more exposition. We are kind of just thrown in to the lives of this band and expected to be empathetic towards them. This just didn't work for me super well and I wish more time had been spent on establishing a stronger emotional connection with our group of "heroes" per se.
This is really the only major issue I had, and once the conflict starts it doesn't really matter...the lack of build up actually serves to increase the intensity in some ways. What separates Green Room from other thrillers is just how realistically they are able to bring this scenario to life. This could happen to ANY down on their luck band desperate for every dollar they can get. And it doesn't just do well with the setting, but it also does a great job in shifting the tone in a dramatic way, as many real life traumas happen themselves. The other shoe drops in the blink of an eye and we are immediately transported from a run of the mill scenario to one that is life or death. Yes, they make "stupid" decisions that are cliche of a lot of movies like this, but in this case it feels natural because the emotional tension is so strong that it reasonably prevents anyone from thinking critically.
From the moment the conflict begins, my heart did not stop pounding throughout the course of the film's runtime. It is incredibly tense and quite frankly terrifying. There is some extreme violence that may detract from the viewer's experience, but I did not feel that it was too over the top and thought it was done well in order to create the type of tone the creators were likely trying to establish.
The performances here are awesome. The major standout for me was clearly Anton Yelchin...simply fantastic...followed closely by Imogen Poots and of course, Sir Patrick Stewart. Stewart's character honestly felt a little underutilized. I would have loved to have seen more. Even so, he kills every scene that he is in.
Overall, despite its lack of exposition that would have improved the narrative a little, Green Room is one of the more terrifying and intense thrillers I think I've ever seen. It is very well-crafted and, due to its subject matter, just as thought provoking as it is purely entertaining.
Rating note:
I sat on the fence between 8 and 9 for a while. For right now I'm giving an 8/10 because I really did want more emotional and interpersonal connection to the protagonists. However, it is a lot closer to a 9 than most 8's I have given in the past and could easily see this evolving into a 9 for me over time or after an additional viewing.