For all you geeks out there, I’d first like to address the elephant in the room: Patrick Stewart. Sure, Stewart was an inspired choice to play Captain Picard. Yes, he was a fantastic Professor X. But to be cast as the big bad in a horror film: how is that going to work? Turns out, remarkably well.

For those who do not know, Green Room is a crime/ horror film written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier. It is about a punk rock band that unknowingly gets booked to play a gig at a bar frequented by Neo-Nazis. But that is not the film’s central problem, since it turns out that the gig actually goes fairly well.  The real trouble starts when one band member accidently witnesses a murder scene in one of the rooms backstage. Turns out, these Neo-Nazis have a lot in common with biker gangs and mafia, and they have little intention of going to jail.

A lot of great actors dream of playing a crime boss, so my guess is that Patrick Stewart leaped at this opportunity to play a club-owning cult-like leader of a group of heroin dealing skinheads. The character of Darcy feels only a few steps removed from a mafia don, albeit one that lurks in the back roads of small town America. If you are having a hard time imagining Jean- Luc Pacard as being intimidating: don’t. First off, Patrick Steward had an impressive, diverse acting career long before he earned a lead role in two mega-franchises. Second, it is the intangible quality that makes Steward so believable as an effective leader that is still in play in his characterization of Darcy, only Darcy’s ends are significantly more sinister than upholding the Prime Directive.

But to say this is Steward’s film alone would be entirely unfair to the other actors in the film, as well as Saulnier’s smart script. In fact, Green Room is so well written, and its characters are so well-developed, it provides ample opportunities for a wide array of solid performances: whether it be from our protagonists, Anton Yelchon (another Trek alumni in, sadly, one of his last roles) and Alia Shawkat, who play essentially good people in the wrong place at the wrong time, Imogen Poots whose link to the murder victim and ties to the Neo-Nazis is a bit of a mystery, Macon Blair’s eager-to-please lacky, or Kai Lennox as a dog handler who is occasionally called upon to act as Darcy’s fixer. Truth be told, Shawkat’s script wisely does not even include Steward’s character into the film its until about a quarter of the way done, which gives us plenty of time to get to know other characters and believe in the angry punk world they inhabit. Before Steward is even introduced, we are already firmly engaged in the escalating situation, and once Steward does show, amazingly, he fits right in.

Though Green Room is in essence a crime drama, Saulnier gives Green Room the tense, raw look and feel of a horror film. The gore adds a graphic realism. I must admit, it took me two viewings to fully appreciate the intricacies of Darcy’s evolving plans, as he constantly shifts his resources in ways that are intended to keep him coming out on top in a fluid situation. The cat and mouse game Saulnier created between the young group of murder witnesses held up in their room with little hope of escape and the skinheads vying for Darcy’s approval is intense and, shockingly, believable. Unlike some horror films, our young heroes, in true punk fashion, accept that their deaths are the most likely outcome and make the decisive decision to go out swinging. But a lot of credit also has to a be given for the depiction of the Neo-Nazis as brainwashed soldiers being used for nefarious ends to enrich others, which seems a surprising accurate representation of the present-day state of white nationalism. In short, the script for the Green Room feels strangely topical, which is definitely a plus.

Put plainly, Green Room is a complex, under-viewed film from of a director that has proven particularly apt at telling stories in the crime and horror genres. Personally, I am hoping Saulnier has plans to come back to horror or crime soon. I look forward to seeing more of his work.

So, if you are ready to spend a night getting your anarchy on, then go, “Warp Nine. Engage”, and see this film.