Indie writer/director Jeremy Saulnier got buzz-worthy traction (if small return: 5 mill budget/4 mill gross) off this violent nihilistic actioner. Heavy on gross-out stylistics (a Gaspar Noé acolyte?), there’s solid structure behind its story of a struggling punk rock band (3 guys/one gal) living out of an equipment van, forced to siphon gas from parked vehicles to make the next gig. This time they’re heading to a faceless warehouse space to play for a mess of skinheads, Far Right/leather-fetish Nazi sympathizers already waiting for them to show. Nazis? Hey, a date’s a date . . . plus 350 in cash and possible gate bonus. But when a band member collects a smartphone from backstage and runs into a fresh murder victim (stabbed in the head!), the band is quickly shunted into the green room, supposedly to wait for the police. Are they going to give statements or being held like lambs to the slaughter for what they saw. Or worse, being set up to take the fall. Oddly enough, that’s exactly what club owner Patrick Stewart is trying to figure out. Meanwhile, the band is stuck in green room hell with a vicious enforcer and a wild card girlfriend whose allegiance is a mystery. Should they believe what they’re being told or plan to fight for their lives? First problem; no alternate doorway out. Second problem; director Saulnier can't keep track of his characters and spaces. With only seven or eight people that count and merely two main acting spaces, it shouldn't prove too much even for a logistic-impaired director who can’t parse his ‘plastic elements’ so we can properly follow the Who, What, Where, Why or When. Are Saulnier’s other films similarly mismanaged?
SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: The film has the feel of being a disappointing remake of a better realized Korean or Japanese film you can’t get your friends to watch.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: One of the band members is the ill-fated star-in-the-making Anton Yelchin. He’s really good, a major loss.
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