The Green Knight review: An atmospheric, morose take on Arthurian legend

In an era of constant corporate buyouts and hierarchical reshuffling, there’s perhaps no other film studio with a more recognizable identity (and devoted fanbase) than A24 and its impressive slate of eclectic titles. The distributor’s latest release, The Green Knight is no exception: An at times inaccessible and dreary Arthurian retelling that flourishes thanks to a captivating lead in star Dev Patel, a strong eye for aesthetics, and a surprising sense of humor.

The Green Knight follows Sir Gawain (Dev Patel), a young, foolhardy knight who’s the son of a witch and the nephew of King Arthur. When a mysterious Green Knight appears at King Arthur’s court at Christmas the knight lays down a challenge – anyone who lands a blow on him will be allowed to keep his axe, but in one year’s time, the knight will return the same blow.

Looking to make an impression at court, Gawain steps up and beheads the knight – only to watch in horror as he picks up his head and walks off. From that moment forward, Gawain has only a year to come to terms with his impending beheading and find the Green Chapel, where the Knight will return the fatal blow.

The film is a loyal adaption of the Arthurian story Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and the legendary source material serves simultaneously as one of the film’s strongest points and its biggest negatives. To its credit, the source material makes for a very solid, recognizable jumping-on point for audiences: Not a lot of world-building needs to be done when the key details you need to know begin and end with ‘Arthurian legend’. At the same time, the relative simplicity of the premise and straightforwardness of the narrative (he beheads the knight, the knight lives, Gawain seeks out and is beheaded by the knight in turn) means that the story itself is relatively bare-bones – though the simplicity does give director David Lowery room for interpretation and embellishment.

While riddled with enough imagery and symbolism to more than make a 2nd or 3rd viewing worthwhile, on a macro level, not a whole lot actually happens in The Green Knight, which can make the overall viewing experience rather tedious and sluggish – much in thanks to the straightforward and (for obvious reasons) predictable narrative.

On the other hand, there’s quite a bit of artistry at play to supplement the relative lack of substance on a purely narrative level, but in putting so much of the film’s meat in symbolism and subtext, The Green Knight ends up rather inaccessible and at times frustratingly self-indulgent.

Still, though, that same penchant for indulgence (despite making The Green Knight paradoxically slow yet difficult to make heads or tails of) gives the film plenty of room to explore its rock-solid sense of self through aesthetic trappings and a biting sense of humor. Composer Daniel Hart lends the film a haunting, moody score to accompany Gawain’s fog-laden trek through the dreary English countryside, which is captured beautifully in picturesque tableaus courtesy of Andrew Droz Palermo. It’s a surreal, dreamlike feast for the senses, but there’s nothing more pleasant to look at than the film’s leading man, Dev Patel.

Sir Gawain is an interesting protagonist in that his fate is decided in the first act and both the audience and the characters know he’s doomed from the beginning, meaning the film is less a question of *if* Gawain will survive and more an exploration of what headspace (no pun intended) he’ll be in when he finally meets his doom in the crumbling walls of the Green Chapel.

Gawain does make for a refreshingly accessible audience insert, though – often baffled by and overwhelmed with the goings-on around him just as we are, and many of the film’s (surprisingly frequent) bone-dry moments of humor come at Gawain’s expense, which further helps endear him to the viewer.

Even if he’s foolish, headstrong, a little clueless, and doomed from the start, you still can’t help but root for him during his many treacherous, disorienting encounters on the path to the Green Chapel, and watching him slowly come to grips with his impending death is both unsettling and compelling. Patel has an inherent charm about him that in turn helps bring an endearing quality to Gawain that otherwise might be missing with any other actor – a quality which works wonders to make the film easier to digest on the whole. The rest of the cast (though suitably surreal and off-putting in their performances) are solid but relatively unremarkable  with the exception of Erin Kellyman’s brief but scene-stealing turn as Winfred, and Alicia Vikander’s magnetic dual roles as Essel and The Lady.

Vikander (who hardly ever puts a foot wrong) is seductive and mystical as The Lady (a wealthy enchantress with whom Gawain takes shelter on his journey) while simultaneously humble and empathetic as Essel, a brothel worker who eventually bears Gawain’s bastard son. Everything from the cadence of her voice to her posture helps create a distinct and significant line between the two women, despite the fact that they share the same face. She’s not onscreen for all that long (The Green Knight is without question Dev Patel’s film, and everyone around him is merely a supporting player), but when she’s onscreen, the film is better for it.

Though often disorienting and frustratingly inaccessible for a film rooted in a famed Arthurian tale, The Green Knight‘s sluggish pacing and symbolism-laden storytelling are made much more digestible thanks to Patel’s compelling lead performance. Well-cast with a rock-solid sense of self, a strangely endearing sense of humor, and a compelling lead, The Green Knight makes for one of 2021’s unmissable (if utterly bizarre) summer flicks.

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