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Parents' Guide to

Green Room

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 18+

Gory, brutally violent, but well-made horror/thriller.

Movie R 2016 94 minutes
Green Room Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 17+

Based on 3 parent reviews

doctora
doctora Parent of 6-year-old
September 23, 2022
age 18+

Compelling but brutally gory

A compelling horror flick. The suspense is good, character development not so much and the film definitely plays into the good vs evil tropes. The most enjoyable parts about it is the suspense and of course Patrick Stewart, Stewarting up the place. He is well cast and makes the stakes quite high for everyone involved in the scene with him. As a theatre person the film takes the uneventful green room to a new realm that I had never imagined.
Bobby G.
Bobby G. Parent of 8-year-old
July 30, 2019
age 16+

Good but very gory thriller

The only real inappropriate content in this movie is violence, but it is VERY high. A few examples include a hand hanging off of an arm after being chopped, a mans stomach being cut open (no innards shown), half a mans face blown off with a shotgun, and dogs eating and tearing peoples necks. All of these acts are shown for a couple of seconds and not lingered upon, hence the 16+.

This title has:

Too much violence
See all 3 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Punk rock band The Ain't Rights -- bassist Pat (Anton Yelchin), guitarist Sam (Alia Shawkat), drummer Reece (Joe Cole), and singer Tiger (Callum Turner) -- are on tour, but they're not even scraping together enough money for gas. When a key gig falls through, a journalist gets them a replacement one playing a backwoods Portland club for white supremacists. After unwisely playing a Dead Kennedys cover song ("Nazi Punks F--- Off"), the band prepares to make a hasty exit ... when they become witnesses to a brutal murder in the green room. Trapped inside with a stranger (Imogen Poots) while the supremacists' sinister, calculating leader (Patrick Stewart) schemes, the bandmates must think on their feet in order to survive.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3 ):
Kids say (10 ):

Influenced by exploitation movies of the 1970s (and punk music of the 1980s), this horror-thriller is rooted in a gripping, grisly kind of realism without resorting to lazy coincidence or stupidity. Director Jeremy Saulnier previously made the similarly excellent Blue Ruin; here he continues honing his skills as a maker of exceptional genre movies that are both entertaining and involving. GREEN ROOM conjures up a vivid atmosphere, introducing characters that feel like they're living in it, rather than just performing in it.

These characters have history -- such as when one band member's wrestling skills come in handy -- and their decisions carry real weight. Saulnier's use of compressed time and space (the movie is set over one long day and mainly in one room) lend the story an air of urgency, while darkness and sounds (barking dogs) add to the unsettling soundtrack. The cast is outstanding, but it's Stewart who with this performance instantly becomes one of the screen's most haunting villains, spreading hatred with soft-spoken precision.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Green Room's extreme violence. What effect does it have? What purpose does it serve? What's the impact of media violence on kids? Does that impact change as kids get older?

  • Is the movie scary? How does something like this compare to a movie with more supernatural horrors?

  • How does it feel to see Patrick Stewart playing such a frightening, hateful villain?

Movie Details

  • In theaters: April 15, 2016
  • On DVD or streaming: July 12, 2016
  • Cast: Patrick Stewart , Anton Yelchin , Imogen Poots
  • Director: Jeremy Saulnier
  • Inclusion Information: Female actors
  • Studio: A24
  • Genre: Thriller
  • Run time: 94 minutes
  • MPAA rating: R
  • MPAA explanation: strong brutal graphic violence, gory images, language and some drug content
  • Last updated: February 26, 2023

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