Green Room is unappealing – that’s a compliment.  Dishevelled characters, dingy lighting, seedy locations, and punk tunes that sound like they’ve been chewed up and spit out contribute to the stress within this thriller.

By making practically everything unpleasant during the film’s hostage situation between a punk rock band who have nothing to lose and violent skinheads who are covering up a murder at their bar, writer/director Jeremy Saulnier wraps the audience up in suffocating situations;  allowing viewers to experience the same desperation and fear the characters are feeling.

The film’s tongue-in-cheek slyness comes into play when Saulnier’s screenplay tricks the audience by stripping down villains, disposing of important leads, and cheating the viewer out of an amusing running gag involving a “deserted island” scenario.  After making notes of how Green Room is presented, it’s easy to figure out that these deceptions are all deliberately part of a plan to create alternative challenges for a taut bottle film.  The limited scenery is the least of the filmmaker’s concerns as he finds different ways to creatively optimize his restraints.

Green Room is one of the final films for actor Anton Yelchin, however watching the film for only his phenomenal performance extends further than that.  Along with Jeremy Saulnier’s integral rule-breaking filmmaking, Green Room has plenty of surprises, gutsiness, and imagery that will sink into your consciousness.

Read Shahbaz Khayambashi’s review of Green Room

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Addison Wylie: @AddisonWylie