Green Room

appears from its trailers to be exactly the sort of horror movie I skip:  a bunch of dumb teens do dumb things in a dumb setting while an only slightly less dumb killer chops up most of them.  After Steve saw it, though, he said that it was more of a bleak and violent noir film than a horror flick.  The presence of Patrick Stewart also made me consider it.  Finally, trusting Steve and hoping for the best from Stewart, I went to see it recently.

I'm quite glad I did.  Steve was right:  though often horrific, Green Room is not a horror film.  A good way for a noir narrative to begin is for someone to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, often for no particular reason, see something, and consequently begin a horrible journey.  That is exactly the structure of Green Room.

The acting is uniformly good, and the plotting and pacing are tight.  From start to finish, the ride is intriguing and compelling; I never wanted to look away.

I don't want to give away anything about the film, so let me say simply that if you are up for 95 tense minutes of entertainment, and if you can handle violence on screen, don't miss Green Room.