Broke, hungry, decrepit, and on the road — these are the trademark signs of a modern day punk rock band. Desperate for a gig and low on cash, Pat, Sam, Tiger and Reece agree to play in the backwoods country near Portland, Oregon, to a group of neo-Nazis in a shady nightclub. What starts out as a typical tale about a struggling band on what appears to be the last leg of their tour (and possibly, their last show ever), suddenly and shockingly switches gears into a high-velocity, unforgiving siege thriller in which it becomes unclear if anyone will make it out alive.

Writer/director Jeremy Saulnier comes roaring out of the gates with this wild and impressive follow up to the 2013 festival favorite Blue Ruin. Dark, edgy, and impulsive, Green Room feels like a punker’s perspective of a western standoff film, where the good guys are outnumbered and completely surrounded. Unlike his previous venture which featured very little dialogue and an intentionally slow-paced plot line shaped around the build up of vengeance, this film starts out in an illicit, rebellious manner and quickly continues to heighten the tension through head-banging shows, gratuitous violence, and hard-headed, quick-thinking kids who live up their unruly reputations.

Unlike some films that feature a band either as a device to put a crew in a dangerous situation, or in an attempt to reign in viewers from a younger target audience, this movie centers itself around the chemistry of the band; a collaborative relationship that feels like it’s years in the making, as opposed to a group of pretty actors thrown together to pretend to play instruments. Through the chemistry already intact, even when the plot shifts from a laid-back road trip to a walled-in desperate attempt for escape, the group builds on the strength and trust already put in place as band members, to lean on one another, and to work together to devise a plan to overcome their oppressors. No one’s plucking random guitar strings here. They’re performing music, and they’re doing it well.

Despite the fact that Green Room is successfully focused on the idea of a punk band finding themselves tied up in the middle of already brewing trouble, Saulnier makes the interesting choice to not limit himself to anti-establishment music. Instead, he opts for using his talented composers Brooke Blair and Will Blair to include a a haunting score, even daring to bravely interrupt the punk’s concert to send the headbangers into slow-motion, defiant thrusts into the air as the classical tones take over and turn the scene into a beautiful, anarchic, swaying conflict of motion.

Not a single shot is wasted in this energetic account of a group of young people who have made a living off of appearing hard, having their supposed toughness put to the ultimate test. Although there are brief moments of troublesome sound mixing, making some of the dialogue somewhat difficult to make out, the feature as a whole is so impressive that it makes up for its shortcomings, and if anything, the messy sound design can be passed off as an attribute of the eschewed punk style. A few lines here and there are passively delivered when they could’ve made more of an impact, but the cast works best when it’s working as a team, and in the end, the impact of the crew’s actions is beyond breathtaking. Most noteworthy in this cast (and not surprisingly so) is Patrick Stewart, as he takes on an gritty and distasteful role that’s as cool as it is evil; unlike any he’s tackled before. The violence, is sharp, hard, and fast, creating many moments of pure astonishment at what has just been seen. Overall, this is Jeremy Saulnier’s most accomplished film to date, and easily one of the best at the 2015 Fantastic Fest.