“The Green Knight” Film Review

By Quinn Marcus

The dictionary describes the word “masterpiece” as “a work of outstanding artistry, skill, or workmanship,” I’d say The Green Knight covers just about every one of those. I haven’t reviewed too many perfect films on this website, hundreds of reviews, and off the top of my head, I can maybe think of a few. A24 has consistently surprised me with amazing films such as Moonlight, Room, and even David Lowery’s other film, A Ghost Story. They’ve encouraged indie director’s to push the boundaries of filmmaking, whether it be in the form of a contained horror movie set in a 19th-century lighthouse, or a critique on the American dream, this studio might be single-handedly saving cinema as we know it. I’ve seen 15 of their movies now, and have only disliked one, if that’s not indicative of a fantastic production company, I don’t know what is. Their league of outstanding new talent has made some of the most heart-wrenching, hilarious, and thought-provoking movies I’ve ever seen, and The Green Knight is no exception, in fact, it might be their best.

The Green Knight tells the story of King Arthur’s nephew, Sir Gawain, a drunk, and not even close to what comes to mind when hearing the word “knight.” On Christmas, a knight made of wood, wielding a massive ax comes to play a game, he calls upon one of Arthur’s knights to try and land a blow against him, and in one year’s time, he will return that same hit. Gawain is the only one who volunteers, and after decapitating the visitor, he locks himself into an epic quest to find the Green Knight and complete this game that will put everything about him to the test.

Courage. The foolish belief that we can be braver, greater, and stronger than we are to overcome what darkness may lie ahead, or in Sir Gawain’s case, what truth about himself. The Green Knight isn’t just another tale about a Knight taking down this big, supernatural being, but a test of what makes us human, and how it affects us in times of danger. The character of the Green Knight is known as a tester of men, and who better a person to test than an empty husk of a man, a coward who’s hard to like in the beginning, but perhaps becomes relatable towards the end. We say “we can do this!” to ourselves, we feel confident, we want to fulfill the wishes of those we love, we envision completing the task at hand, but when faced with that which we must defeat, solving the problem becomes a whole lot trickier than we originally imagined. Yes, this is a fantasy about a knight slaying a beast, but deep down, it’s a profoundly told story of cowardice to courage and the journey that was taken to get there.

Okay, don’t worry, that’s about as far as I’ll go with my analysis, just wanted to put it out there. What I think I’m getting at is that Sir Gawain, can, at first, seem like a vessel to drive the plot forward, but he’s really a reflection upon ourselves, and that final hurdle we must cross and fear, death. Through his interactions with others he meets on his journey, he’s forced to prove himself to be able to push ahead against these challenges of the mind and heart until he must decide to make the ultimate sacrifice or live the rest of his life as a guilt-ridden, pitiful old man. His arc in the film is one of the most brilliantly handled character arcs in film history, and by the end, I left the theater speechless, thinking about nothing but how remarkable an artwork this was. This is an experience not to be missed and meant to be seen on the biggest screen possible.

Every shot looks like a painting, the colors are dark, murky, and occasionally mystifying to the point of becoming nearly dreamlike. There’s a sequence with these gray giants that reminded me of the scene in Blade Runner 2049 with all of the massive statues, only, even weirder. I was constantly entranced by what I was seeing on screen, and what Lowery was able to accomplish with his visuals, but I was also just so invested and riveted by the dramatic, strange dialogue and plot that’s truly unlike any film I’ve ever witnessed. I’m not going to say that this film will be for everyone, that simply isn’t true, if you’re a patient viewer like myself, and have seen films as intellectually complex, I’d say you’re gonna have a blast, otherwise, I’d hold back a little longer, this film is obviously polarizing audiences, holding a mixed audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and now, I can see why. The Green Knight is some weird-shit alright, and I know A24 doesn’t make generic films, but, this is beyond anything that I’ve seen from them.

Dev Patel is fantastic as always, not his best performance in my opinion, but just another notch in his belt and the supporting cast including Alicia Vikander, Sean Harris, and Joel Edgerton were all absolutely superb. There was one character who stuck out to me in particular, played by Barry Keoghan, and he was the best, and most entertaining character in my opinion, lively, and fun to watch. The production design and costume work are Oscar-worthy, unfortunately, I doubt it will get too much recognition this awards season, but who knows, we could get lucky. In fact, every technical aspect of this movie has enough imagination thrown into it to be at least considered for a nomination. I loved Lowery’s A Ghost Story, it was the most I’d ever cried during a film in a long time, but this is some next-level stuff, and Mr. Lowery, if you’re reading (probably not, but here we go anyways), please keep making movies, I beg of you, you even made a solid live-action Disney film, not many directors can say that. Overall, in an increasingly less-original market of film, leaving this movie felt refreshing in a way, and I’ll definitely be watching it again when it comes out on Amazon, but it’s still in theaters, and if I were you, I’d support it, it’s one of the best films of the decade and may become an all-time fav for me.