The Green Knight is one of 2021's most talked-about releases, adapting a 14th-century Arthurian poem that tells of a trial of Sir Gawain, King Arthur's nephew and a member of the Knights of the Round Table. Written, directed, and edited by David Lowery (Pete's Dragon), the film stars Dev Patel as Sir Gawain, Alicia Vikander as his love interest Essel, Ralph Ineson as The Green Knight, Sean Harris as King Arthur, and Kate Dickie as Queen Guinevere.
While The Green Knight is a fairly faithful adaptation, it adds multiple events and elements to the overall plot; both to give the story more of an overall arc and make it pop on screen. These additions also make the story much more dreamlike, playing out less as a straightforward narrative and more as a journey into Gawain's soul.
Here's everything you need to know about The Green Knight, including where you can find it, and what people think of the film.
The Green Knight hews closely to the original Arthurian poem, and details Sir Gawain's encounter with the titular Green Knight. At a Christmas feast thrown by his uncle Arthur in Camelot, a strange knight more tree than man appears, and challenges all the knights assembled. He presents a beautiful ax and says that any who strikes him may take it. But if they do they must travel to the Green Chapel next Christmas, and receive an equal blow from him in return.
Thinking this is an easy challenge, Gawain decapitates the knight. But the Green Knight simply stands and picks up his severed head before leaving. The rest of the film details the trials and tribulations Gawain undergoes as he prepares himself for his own execution. It's less a story of a grand quest than of the challenges Gawain must face as he debates which is worth more: his honor, or his life?
Despite having been out for a month already, The Green Knight is still available in plenty of theaters across the U.S. and other parts of the world. Showtimes might be harder to find due to the film's less splashy nature, but plenty of chains like AMC, Regal, and Cineplex offer showtimes, with some variance depending on location.
Each of these theater chains has its own site with a theater locator that finds local venues near a given zip code. Finding a location that offers showtimes for The Green Knight should be doable, but might require a bit of driving. It's also important to take into consideration local COVID-19 restrictions. Many theaters have reopened to the public, but rules and regulations vary in different parts of the country and world.
While it is still in theaters, The Green Knight is also currently available for purchase on a number of online streaming platforms. Most prominent among these are Apple TV, Prime Video, Google Play, and AMC On-Demand. There's a smattering of other smaller platforms that also have the rights to the film, but none offer the option to purchase it outright.
Interested fans will have to settle for renting the film for the moment, with most platforms offering The Green Knight at a price of 19 to 25 USD (though they may vary in other regions). The quality between these online retailers is largely the same, so for consumers, it comes down to a matter of convenience and pricing.
The Green Knight has been well received by critics, but less so by audience members. It's in many respects an arthouse film, slow-moving and ponderous while relying on beautiful visuals and strident performances. That explains why it has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 50% from viewers, with many describing it as slow or hard to understand. This is to be expected to some extent when dealing with a film that acts as a love letter to its source material. For those who've read the original poem, it's a beautiful transformation of the written word. However, those expecting a hack-and-slash sword-and-sorcery medieval action film will need to adjust their expectations.
This is further reflected in the dichotomy between critic and audience reviews. While audience members gave The Green Knight a 50% overall, its critical response is a much more respectable 87%. The film isn't cleanly cut as good or bad, of course, but it helps to go in with no illusions as to what it entails.
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