Moving this conversation over here:
Green Room
Very solid thriller, but a few too many shock kills kept it from being as engaging and satisfying as it could have been. That is sort of Saulnier's bag though.
Interesting comment because I agree it's what Saulnier brings to the table in a new way. Is it that you quickly pick up on what he's doing and detach from the characters because anyone can be next to die?
Not quite, because it's clear from the start who's going to last to the end. It's honestly something I can't quite put my finger on, because I recognize the storytelling efficiency most of these deaths serve. Usually they reveal some new piece of information for our main characters - such as the cousin revealing the location of the shotgun right before his face is blown off.
But that was a moment that didn't work for me. It was almost too clean and emotionless. This is the character who was planning on running off with the murdered girl, the girl he loved. So, sure, that's life. It's messy and often meaningless and brutish and short, but that usually doesn't make for great stories. Does make for good punk music though
I guess I just thought they could have eked a little more drama and emotion out of some of the deaths. The kid who goes out the window and is immediately stabbed to death, for example. Also, Patrick Stewart going out so easily. Two kids who are picking up guns for the very first time, first time shooting to kill at the very least, just blow him away.
If I'm getting to any kind of a point, it's that I did like these kids. They were quickly and efficiently fleshed out and were endearing. But they were often snuffed out so quickly, that their deaths didn't have time to register emotionally before we cut to the next thing.