10 Great Indie Films From The Past 5 Years You May Have Missed

If you start watching “Green Room” expecting a generic, middle-of-the-road horror, you’ll be sorely mistaken. In this painfully taught thriller, struggling punk band, The Ain’t Rights, are running low on money and desperate for a paying gig. Hearing of an opportunity at a club full of skin-heads in the woods outside of Portland, they make their way there and soon have enough gas money to carry on their disorganised tour across America. However, just when it seems this crazy bunch of Nazis might not be so bad after all, they witness the aftermath of one of the club patrons committing a brutal murder, and soon find themselves trapped and at the mercy of the club owner and his band of loyal followers.

This film is a vicious, unrelenting exercise in suspense and horror, with none of the usual let up provided by plot holes and “why did they do that?” moments. There really is a sense that there’s nothing the characters can do to get out of their situation, and that’s a testament to the strength of the script provided by writer/director, Jeremy Saulnier. Every character action seems realistic, and every possible escape is written shut, giving the film an agonisingly claustrophobic journey to its conclusion.

Patrick Stewart gives a great performance as Darcy, the cold, calculating neo-Nazi club owner resolute in his plans to exterminate his unwanted guests. Star Trek’s Anton Yelchin also appears in one of his final roles before his untimely death earlier this year.