Film Review: THE GREEN KNIGHT (2021): Dev Patel and Alicia Vikander Make Film a Cut Above the Rest

The Green Knight Review

The Green Knight (2021) Film Review, a movie directed by David Lowery and starring Dev Patel, Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton, Sarita Choudhury, Anais Rizzo, Joe Anderson, Noelle Brown, Tara Mae, Sean Harris, Kate Dickie, Ralph Ineson, Donncha Crowley, Erin Kellyman and Barry Keoghan.

Director David Lowery brings a film version of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to the screen with remarkable style as well as a considerable amount of substance as well. The source material is obviously of high quality but in Lowery’s new film, The Green Knight,  the material is not only brought to new heights thematically speaking but the technical precision of the picture far exceeds expectations creating one of the more memorable movie experiences of the summer.

Dev Patel is cast in the movie’s lead role as Sir Gawain who we first meet in a brothel as the film opens. He is with Essel (Alicia Vikander) who is a girlfriend of his but their relationship will likely never evolve to the heights that Essel would like it to because of Essel’s class status as a commoner.

Readers of the original literature will know that Patel’s character is the nephew of King Arthur (Sean Harris) and Queen Guinevere (Kate Dickie). Sarita Choudhury plays the role of Sir Gawain’s mother. When Sir Gawain attends an elaborate Christmas dinner with his royal family, a half-man/half tree entity known as “The Green Knight” arrives. This character is remarkably portrayed by Ralph Ineson. The Green Knight asks the crowd if any of the knights present would like to challenge him and Sir Gawain steps forward and decapitates the odd-looking being with an axe. A deal is made that in one year’s time, Sir Gawain must meet The Green Knight at the Green Chapel in order for vengeance to be served for the vicious act as The Green Knight picks up his head and puts it back on.

Time passes and when the one year is up, Gawain packs up the axe and a green girdle (a gift from his mother) which is supposed to keep him safe from harm. He’s on his way to the Green Chapel in order to confront his fate. As Gawain chooses a path, he finds himself encountering a young man (Barry Keoghan) who ends up robbing Gawain of his possessions and leaving him tied up for dead. But, Gawain finds a way to escape and encounters a woman named Winifred (Erin Kellyman) who asks Gawain to find her head even though her head seems to be on perfectly. When Gawain finds a skull and brings it back, he mysteriously obtains his axe back in exchange for the skull.

Soon, Gawain has a fox by his side on his journey but things really get interesting when Gawain meets a Lord (Joel Edgerton) whose Lady (played in another performance by Alicia Vikander) closely resembles Essel. There are some interesting developments which lead Gawain to meet his fate for better or worse.

Dev Patel is perfect as Sir Gawain. Patel captures the likability factor necessary to sustain interest in the character throughout the film’s two hour-plus running time. We follow him for the duration of the film wondering which way he will proceed in the complex labyrinth he encounters before him during the course of the movie.

Alicia Vikander is an Oscar-winning actress thanks to her turn in the wonderful 2015 film The Danish Girl and she’s absolutely fantastic in The Green Knight adding many layers to both her poor character and her rich character in the film. It is in a scenario found in a vision towards the film’s end in which we realize Gawain and Essel could never truly be a couple no matter what becomes of Gawain. As the Lady, Vikander shares a great scene with Patel in which she gives him a girdle which…well you’ll have to see the film to see what happens there.

Even the fox gets some of the film’s best dialogue to ensure that all the characters here are well-rounded and serve a purpose. The fox steals the show at times and is a well conceived companion for Gawain. Stay put at the end as well for an after credits scene which is short and sweet.

While The Green Knight may not attract everyone because of its complex and, at times, ambiguous story line, it will be a worthwhile experience for anyone willing to put in the effort to analyze Gawain’s actions and the occurrences that propel him to complete his bizarre journey. From a technical standpoint, the movie is nearly flawless with artistically rendered choices that are well chosen for this particular story. There should be some technical nominations come Oscar time and Dev Patel is definitely a movie star on the rise. Vikander is flawless. See this film!

Rating: 8/10

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