Two Of The Best Films You've Probably Never Heard Of
'Blue Ruin' (2013) and 'Green Room' (2015). Jeremy Saulnier's directed a couple of the best modern thrillers of our generation, and they've since become cult classics.
You probably don’t recognise this man. But he’s made two of the best movies of the 2010s. Look at that gentle, innocent-looking face. Don’t be fooled… He makes some bad-ass films! With some, at the time, little-known incredible talent. If you’re looking for something to watch that feels fresh, original but familiar, that will make your heart beat hard and blood pressure rise in a drama that will make you forget the time of day - I’m here to tell you about Jeremy Saulnier’s Blue Ruin and Green Room.
Blue Ruin (2013)
Back in 2013 Blue Ruin was already setting a high mark for Saulnier's talent, who with lead actor Macon Blair scraped whatever resources they could to pull off this indie b-movie that feels anything but. The film only had a small release yet had made several critics' top 10 lists that year, which is how I discovered it.
As you begin to watch you're clueless as to the lead character’s background. You have only his poorly state - disheveled, a loner, sleeping in his car; until gradually the unfolding plot gives you the information you need to want to follow this man through his journey of revenge, most of it revealed visually instead of explanatory dialogue. The less you know coming into this, the more satisfying the experience. There's not a huge amount here that is original. It's a straight forward man-seeks-revenge story. But it is very, very well done, and avoids the clichés of revenge flicks.
Most movies of this nature expend their energy across an hour and a half, what Blue Ruin packs into only its first act, the first 20 minutes. That’s part of what makes it feel so fresh and original. After its debut in Cannes, it was drawing inevitable comparisons to the Coen Brothers’ Fargo or Blood Simple. Tonally, I can see it, but I’d say this is one step above and beyond that.
This is a masterclass in tension and in the gradual building of drama. I was curled up on the sofa fearful of which direction the story might take, hoping for the best but knowing how unforgiving and nihilistic the world can be.
A few years ago I had recommended this film on my usual end-of-year top 10 list, published between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. A friend messaged me on New Year’s Day saying she and her husband missed the clock striking midnight, because they had started watching Blue Ruin and got completely lost in it.
Though a visually rich nail-biting tale of revenge and despair, its cast bring to it a warmth and humanity that has you latching on. Saulnier isn’t interested in violence or gore. He’s interested in the weight of the soul.
And in case you recognise the film’s lead actor and producer Macon Blair but can’t quite place him - he most recently played lawyer Lloyd Garrison who represented Robert Oppenheimer, in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.
To be watched with the lights off, feet up, and a glass of red wine.
Green Room (2015)
Prior to joining this cast, acting legend Patrick Stewart left his agent of many years as he got bored of the same old stuff making its way to him. And after he did, this little script came along, from a little known indie director who had only recently made some waves with Blue Ruin. As Stewart read the script, 45 minutes into the story he had to close the curtains in his room and pour himself a glass of scotch - just from reading it, he could sense the tension coming off the page.
A broke punk band arrive to perform at a gig they haven't been told has been cancelled by the promoter. In an attempt to make up for lost time and lost money, they have an alternative gig arranged at another venue, "extreme right wing crowd" they're told; "Just don't talk politics". It’s just unfortunate that, after they’ve played their set, leaving the place doesn’t seem to be a simple option.
I'm not gonna give anything away, and if you haven't seen the trailer yet, then don't. Like Blue Ruin, the more you go into this without any expectations, the more fun it proves to be.
Stewart, in a counter-intuitive move, plays the creepy head of the neo-Nazi group running the venue where said gig takes place and where the band suffer the hardest night of their lives. Acting and speaking tough as part of their punk rock personas, they are now put to the test to see how hard they really are.
Though its spirit may be rooted, like that of Blue Ruin, in the old-school b-movies of the 1960s and 70s, this is neither cheap nor gore. It is a slick, crafty piece of work. Easy to appreciate and a testament to the incredible talent of lead actor Anton Yelchin (of Star Trek) whose shooting star came to a premature end when he died in a car accident not long after the film’s release. Too few people have heard of Green Room to appreciate his amazing talent to the full. Yet here it is for all to see, alongside Imogen Poots (The Father) and Callum Turner (War & Peace).
Quentin Tarantino’s quoted as calling Green Room “The most sensational out-of-the-blue film I’ve ever seen”. Saulnier’s style walks the fine edge of horror using the genre’s aesthetics and techniques, without the film fully tipping into a horror movie. Having said that, I went to the cinema to see this, and never at the movies have I seen a woman jump up out of her seat and scream - it wasn’t because of the now-tired jump-scares or a 'boo', but because of the very opposite. The camera was slowly following someone down a corridor - and it was the tension in the waiting that got to her.
To be watched with the curtains closed, perhaps with the light in the hallway switched on, and the strongest scotch you can get!
Enjoy!
Seen anything good lately? Let me know!
Is all this drinking required? Some power movies you've included here. These movies are definitely not my cup of tea, however I love your descriptions of the actors and their relationship to the plot and the movies themselves. I relate to the clichés and the importance in avoiding them. I was using that exact comparison in the workshop for writing I ran today. Coincidence reading this in relation to movies. Loved this piece!