The Green Knight is both unabashedly Arthurian and a very timely cautionary tale. In one of my favorite sequences in recent memory, Sir Gawain, who has spent the entire film in staunch defiance of death and nature is shown a vision of a world in which he does not keep his promise to the Green Knight and rides away unscathed. The world he is shown is one of dishonor, bloodshed and moral degradation.

It's a world that feels not unlike the one we live in. Lowery is somehow able to preserve the authenticity of a centuries-old myth, while simultaneously giving us a hyper-relevant story about the cost of our modern inability to humble ourselves before nature.

It's a good film, but modern filmmakers seem a little too obsessed with deconstructing characters and de-romanticising the hero's journey, and it's starting to become a cliche that is overplayed and almost insulting to the audience. The filmmakers seem to think that by making all the protagonists anti-heroes who are not as heroic as we think that it's intelligent storytelling, but it really isn't.

I find myself regularly asking, "Where have all the good guys gone?" and "why isn't there romance in films anymore?"

Is it a little too much to ask for a righteous protagonist and a little love in films?

The modern landscape of cynical filmmaking that creates nihilistic stories has become very tedious.

I've got to admit, I'm very confused by all of the negative reviews. Were people expecting A Knight's Tale? This is an A24 artsy movie, it's not a popcorn movie. That being said, I found it very engaging. It's slightly slow paced, only because each scene takes its time, but I did not find it boring. In fact, I found it fairly riveting and propulsive for a movie of its kind. There is a thick atmosphere by way I of very compelling visuals and music, which reminded me of an Alex Garland movie, like Annihilation or Men, but set in medieval times.

The movie is also extremely thought provoking. There are several interesting themes of the movie: 1) The nature of chivalry and honor, 2) The meaning or meaninglessness of life and death. There are also some interesting choices about race and color.

I will say, I did read the original legend before seeing the movie, and perhaps that increased my enjoyment of the movie. It's short, and will only take you a few hours. It was very interesting to see in what ways Lowery chose to stay true to the story, versus what says he chose to deviate. There was even an interesting meta line in the movie about making changes to an original work when it needs improvement.

Overall, if you're open to a thought provoking and artistically beautiful movie, I think you'll enjoy the movie.