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| Scene from Green Room |
In case you didn't know, A24 is one of the great purveyors of modern cinema. Since 2013, the studio has found a way to innovate independent cinema by turning each release into an event. As a result, A24 A-to-Z will be an ongoing series that looks at every release from the studio by analyzing its production history, release, criticisms, and any awards attention that it might've received. Join me on a quest to explore the modern heroes of cinema by exploring every hit and miss that comes with that magnificent logo. They may not all be great, but they more than make A24 what it is and what it will hopefully continue to be for ears to come.
Released: April 15, 2016
Release Number: 32
Directed By: Jeremy Saulnier
Starring: Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, Alia Shawkat
Plot: A punk rock band is forced to fight for survival after witnessing a murder at a neo-Nazi skinhead bar.
The year 2016 was already shaping up to be one of A24's richest, strangest years by April. For starters, they had released a film endorsed by Satanists (The Witch), a trippy allegory about film making (Mojave), and a twist on Nazi revenge thrillers (Remember). With their next film Green Room, director Jeremy Saulnier would return the studio to the world of contemporary Nazi culture. Only this time it would feature teenage punk rockers fighting their way out of a night club in gruesome fashion. More than Remember, it was a film that struck a nerve with audiences and found the studio with one of their most weirdly vital films of the year. It wasn't just about beating up Nazis, it was about having an intensity to creatively explore violence in a claustrophobic setting. It may be considered a small box office bomb, but it quickly became a staple to why A24 is the kings of indie cinema.
Green Room was an idea that Saulnier had been obsessed with since the 90's. This was specifically in regards to his day as a teenage punk rocker who played venues. He was familiar with the green room environment, and found the idea to be very promising. He would first address it in a short made during a 48-hour challenge, only this time featuring a premise where the musicians play a record backwards to unleash a demon. Saulnier would be the first to admit that it was a hammy idea, but was obsessed with the idea of a serious horror movie about green rooms. Following the success of his sophomore film Blue Ruin, he decided that 2014 was the right time to begin the project. He was gaining enough clout that his profile was rising, but he felt that being too popular would keep the film from being made. He believed that he was in the sweet spot where he could pull it off.
The influence for the film came in part from a prison documentary he saw on TV that traumatized him. The sight of shameless violence created a sense of what his film would be going for (he would also cite Straw Dogs as an influence). He claimed that the film was going to be violent, but not "sadistic." By this he meant that the violence would not be exploitative, save for the inciting incident. The rest would has a sense of graphic nature to them, but would be shown explicitly. It was to help create a tension throughout the film that challenged the viewer to imagine the horrors unseen. He also claims that every act in the film has a calculated reason for its inclusion.
As far as casting went, there were two interesting decisions to the production. The first was Macon Blair, who had worked previously with Saulnier on their breakout film Blue Ruin. Saulnier was against a nepotistic casting choice and initially refused to cast Blair. However, the actor created his own audition tape with a Nazi costume that convinced Saulnier that he was a dedicated actor. The other major get pretty much saved the film: Patrick Stewart. Saulnier claims that before Stewart came on, the film was having trouble. He also believed that the X-Men and Star Trek actor wouldn't be game for a challenging role. Yet Stewart shared the same manager as Saulnier and wanted to do a movie that was different. He was so engaged with the script that Stewart copped to putting on the security system in his home to feel secure while reading the script. He later shared pictures with Saulnier that reflected an edgier version of the actor.
One of the unfortunate details of the film is the death of Anton Yelchin. While the film has no connection to his death on March 11, 2016, it was the last film of his career to have had some release prior to his untimely death where he was crushed by his car. It had premiered at the Cannes Film Festival the previous summer and was bought by A24 sometime after. The clout around Saulnier's career was helping the film at various festivals where it received rave reviews. With an April release, it had everything in place to be another hit for the studio thanks to its odd story. While it received acclaim that built around a word of mouth approach, the film was considered a box office failure, making $3.8 million on a $5 million budget.
The film received predominantly positive reviews, getting a 90% rating on critics aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes. Lenika Cruz of The Atlantic shared the general sentiment when suggesting "Scrape off the scum, and you'll find Green Room full of visual artistry, dark humor, smart writing, and glints of humanity." The film was considered a maturing of horror films, such as when Bruce Demara of Toronto Star wrote that "It doesn't take a big budget and loads of special effects to create a genuinely scary movie. It just takes - as writer/director Jeremy Saulnier ably demonstrates in Green Room - an intriguing premise, a taut, sinewy script and a solid cast."The few who disagreed with the praise were like Giovanni Marchini Camia of The Film Stage, who wrote that "While Green Room features a number of ingeniously crafted set pieces, it quickly winds up as an excessive, borderline pornographic revelry in extreme violence." The film would also end up on various critics Top 10 lists for 2016, with the highest rating being Las Vegas Weekly's Josh Bell (#2) and featuring several critics from The A.V. Club, Film School Rejects, and /Film.
Even if Green Room wasn't a runaway hit, it definitely captured A24's brand of indie film sensibilities. It was a brash story full of performances that played against type, telling it in a brutally original fashion. It's the type of film that couldn't really be made elsewhere. It had a power behind Patrick Stewart's involvement, and showed that Saulnier was going to keep making great movies. While this recent streak featured some of the studio's best and oddest achievements, the next film on the list would prove to be another oddball misfire, featuring an actor from A24's freshman class. The Adderall Diaries brought James Franco back on a film that mixed fact and fiction, and proved a fraught relationship with the source material's author. A lot can be said about the film, but mostly that it wasn't as popular as Green Room.
Up Next: The Adderall Diaries (2016)
The year 2016 was already shaping up to be one of A24's richest, strangest years by April. For starters, they had released a film endorsed by Satanists (The Witch), a trippy allegory about film making (Mojave), and a twist on Nazi revenge thrillers (Remember). With their next film Green Room, director Jeremy Saulnier would return the studio to the world of contemporary Nazi culture. Only this time it would feature teenage punk rockers fighting their way out of a night club in gruesome fashion. More than Remember, it was a film that struck a nerve with audiences and found the studio with one of their most weirdly vital films of the year. It wasn't just about beating up Nazis, it was about having an intensity to creatively explore violence in a claustrophobic setting. It may be considered a small box office bomb, but it quickly became a staple to why A24 is the kings of indie cinema.
Green Room was an idea that Saulnier had been obsessed with since the 90's. This was specifically in regards to his day as a teenage punk rocker who played venues. He was familiar with the green room environment, and found the idea to be very promising. He would first address it in a short made during a 48-hour challenge, only this time featuring a premise where the musicians play a record backwards to unleash a demon. Saulnier would be the first to admit that it was a hammy idea, but was obsessed with the idea of a serious horror movie about green rooms. Following the success of his sophomore film Blue Ruin, he decided that 2014 was the right time to begin the project. He was gaining enough clout that his profile was rising, but he felt that being too popular would keep the film from being made. He believed that he was in the sweet spot where he could pull it off.
The influence for the film came in part from a prison documentary he saw on TV that traumatized him. The sight of shameless violence created a sense of what his film would be going for (he would also cite Straw Dogs as an influence). He claimed that the film was going to be violent, but not "sadistic." By this he meant that the violence would not be exploitative, save for the inciting incident. The rest would has a sense of graphic nature to them, but would be shown explicitly. It was to help create a tension throughout the film that challenged the viewer to imagine the horrors unseen. He also claims that every act in the film has a calculated reason for its inclusion.
As far as casting went, there were two interesting decisions to the production. The first was Macon Blair, who had worked previously with Saulnier on their breakout film Blue Ruin. Saulnier was against a nepotistic casting choice and initially refused to cast Blair. However, the actor created his own audition tape with a Nazi costume that convinced Saulnier that he was a dedicated actor. The other major get pretty much saved the film: Patrick Stewart. Saulnier claims that before Stewart came on, the film was having trouble. He also believed that the X-Men and Star Trek actor wouldn't be game for a challenging role. Yet Stewart shared the same manager as Saulnier and wanted to do a movie that was different. He was so engaged with the script that Stewart copped to putting on the security system in his home to feel secure while reading the script. He later shared pictures with Saulnier that reflected an edgier version of the actor.
One of the unfortunate details of the film is the death of Anton Yelchin. While the film has no connection to his death on March 11, 2016, it was the last film of his career to have had some release prior to his untimely death where he was crushed by his car. It had premiered at the Cannes Film Festival the previous summer and was bought by A24 sometime after. The clout around Saulnier's career was helping the film at various festivals where it received rave reviews. With an April release, it had everything in place to be another hit for the studio thanks to its odd story. While it received acclaim that built around a word of mouth approach, the film was considered a box office failure, making $3.8 million on a $5 million budget.
The film received predominantly positive reviews, getting a 90% rating on critics aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes. Lenika Cruz of The Atlantic shared the general sentiment when suggesting "Scrape off the scum, and you'll find Green Room full of visual artistry, dark humor, smart writing, and glints of humanity." The film was considered a maturing of horror films, such as when Bruce Demara of Toronto Star wrote that "It doesn't take a big budget and loads of special effects to create a genuinely scary movie. It just takes - as writer/director Jeremy Saulnier ably demonstrates in Green Room - an intriguing premise, a taut, sinewy script and a solid cast."The few who disagreed with the praise were like Giovanni Marchini Camia of The Film Stage, who wrote that "While Green Room features a number of ingeniously crafted set pieces, it quickly winds up as an excessive, borderline pornographic revelry in extreme violence." The film would also end up on various critics Top 10 lists for 2016, with the highest rating being Las Vegas Weekly's Josh Bell (#2) and featuring several critics from The A.V. Club, Film School Rejects, and /Film.
Even if Green Room wasn't a runaway hit, it definitely captured A24's brand of indie film sensibilities. It was a brash story full of performances that played against type, telling it in a brutally original fashion. It's the type of film that couldn't really be made elsewhere. It had a power behind Patrick Stewart's involvement, and showed that Saulnier was going to keep making great movies. While this recent streak featured some of the studio's best and oddest achievements, the next film on the list would prove to be another oddball misfire, featuring an actor from A24's freshman class. The Adderall Diaries brought James Franco back on a film that mixed fact and fiction, and proved a fraught relationship with the source material's author. A lot can be said about the film, but mostly that it wasn't as popular as Green Room.
Up Next: The Adderall Diaries (2016)
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