By: Keaton Marcus

I have been silently intrigued by David Lowery's Arthurian epic The Green Knight since its mysteriously stunning teaser trailer came out months ago. Marking his second collaboration with A24 after the polarizing A Ghost Story, this director continues to let the world of cinema know that he will not head the conventional route. Instead, particularly here, Lowery throws audiences on a hellish, haunting, and surreal journey with simple hints of horror, making sure of a divisive response. This filmmaker and this studio together are bound to break viewers in half, into two sections even. Plenty will adore this undeniably ambitious work of art, and a whole lot is going to chuck it off as self-indulgent nonsense thinly veiled by striking imagery. For me, I would completely understand both opposing perspectives, but being absolutely honest, this was a masterpiece, plain and simple. An achievement and future classic of cinema only for the most patient of viewers to fully appreciate. Those willing to see Lowery's vision through and through are in for a treat, and those without the stomach for it are going to be left in the dust with utter confusion.

King Arthur's headstrong nephew embarks on a daring quest to confront the Green Knight, a mysterious giant who appears at Camelot. Risking his head, he sets off on an epic adventure to prove himself before his family and court.

I love when a director has a passion for their work. Whether or not I enjoy or remotely like the film, I can always tell when they want to see their vision enacted to the fullest. It's apparent when they've got that creative spark. It's infused within their art, invigorating it, perhaps. However, that does come with tricky arguments about the concept of pretentiousness. When does passion go too far? When does it cross the thin line of self-indulgence? It isn't easy to pinpoint, but I fully encourage every director out there to be just a little ostentatious. I am not referring to torturing the audience, which has happened several times before, but create what you want to watch. I feel that Lowery entirely understands this idea and embraces it to the right amount, reminiscent of filmmakers like Terrence Malick, among others who are constantly accused of being up to their rear. There's such a feeling of enthusiasm emanating from the screen while viewing, which will always be something that puts a big smile on my face. In a more fundamental sense, the director made the film for himself, and I love that.

Now more on the actual film itself, it's undoubtedly one of the most exciting things I have ever witnessed. A24 is constantly challenging the unfortunately dull and commercialist way of filmmaking that generally populates our theaters. At the moment, most Hollywood has an infatuation with quantity over quality, more focused on profits than producing good cinema. Especially in the aftermath of the Coronavirus pandemic. Among a few others, this studio has been shifting the floor of the last decade in cinematic history, releasing large amounts of acclaimed movies in various genres. The Green Knight is yet another example of the complex and thought-provoking filmmaking A24 has to offer, and the film is one of its finest. For starters, no amount of praise will equate to how gorgeous the cinematography is. Sweeping, grand, and masterful in its use of hue and shadow, natural light has never looked this incredible, save for The Revenant, perhaps. Cinematographer Andrew Droz Palermo and the many talented visual effects artists have created a mystically sumptuous, hauntingly angelic fictional world that demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible. Thematically this was also a feast, but we'll get to that later. Acting-wise, the performances were all perfectly believable, but it's safe to say that this was a more visually driven project.

For my actual interpretation. I do not think I have seen an A24 film without an ambiguous ending utterly open to different opinions. Generally, the last ten minutes of these movies are complete mindfucks with an enigmatic final shot. Now, spoilers ahead.

I view this entire movie as a simple test of humanity. Dev Patel's Sir Gawain is an embodiment of the entirety of mankind, set on a journey to overcome our greatest fear, death. It's a universally ominous feeling knowing that we will all meet our end someday, and that is represented by the quest the Green Knight puts him on. It's a challenge that suggests Gawain is to push all of this way only to get his head chopped off, and ultimately, that is the pinnacle of courage. There is so much possible existentialism and thematic complexity that I did not understand, but this was, at its odd core, a very emotionally affecting tale. Still unsure of himself before the movie's closing credits, Gawain is forced to witness his entire future ahead of him if he does not complete the test of death. With age, he turns into a crippled, corrupt and remorseful man, even a shell of a human being. Instead, the movie so brilliantly makes him willing after the vision, and it's up to audiences to decide whether he was decapitated or not. Yeah, what a conclusion.