Skip to content
29 October · 57 days to ChristmasThe advent calendar opens 1 December →
A plain paper axe stands in rushes beside a deserted candlelit feast table, with moss, holly and grey plates in a shadowed stone hall.

Not really, no · 2021

The Green Knight

25/100Festive FactorWhy it scores 25 ↓
UK certificate 15130 min
Drama · Fantasy

A Christmas film in the way a ghost story is: the season sets the clock and then steps aside.

On Prime Video · UK subscription →
Plan this film night ↓Can the kids watch? ↓
Explore this film 9 sections

The CineClaus Christmas score

Festive Factor

A different kind of Christmas.

Two paper elves inspect a miniature stone hall, with a candlelit table, mossy plates, holly and an axe among rushes on the floor.

A little magic in the making.

Five ingredients make the Festive Factor.
Open an ingredient to find out more.

Christmas in the storyChristmas is the deadline.15/30

What we ask: Take Christmas out. Does the plot survive? Worth up to 30 of the 100 points.

A world dressed for ChristmasVisibly Christmas for a scene or two.0/20

What we ask: How much of the running time is visibly Christmas? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

The little seasonal details1 of the 10 kinds of Christmas icon we count turn up on screen.2/15

What we ask: How many kinds of Christmas icon turn up on screen: trees, lights, snow, carols and the rest? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

A Christmas heartHow far the ending rests on goodwill, family and belief: incidentally.5/20

What we ask: Does the ending depend on what Christmas means: goodwill, family, redemption, belief? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

A returning traditionNiche at Christmas (under 25,000).3/15

What we ask: Is it actually watched at Christmas in the UK? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

29/100

Cosiness Rating Rating

Cool in tone. Strong threat. An unsettled ending.

How we score →
What do these scores mean?

Festive Factor measures how Christmassy a film is. Five ingredients add up to 100: story (30), setting (20), seasonal details (15), emotional heart (20) and returning tradition (15).

Cosiness is a separate score for warmth of tone, sense of safety, visual comfort, a reassuring ending and how easily you can settle into it.

How the Festive Factor works →
Your next film night

Where to watch

United KingdomChecked

Prime Video

Included with a subscription
In the catalogue

Apple TV

Rent or buy
See viewing options on Apple TV (opens in a new tab)

Prime Video

Rent or buy
See viewing options on Prime Video (affiliate link, opens in a new tab)

The Green Knight · Rental and purchase cost extra, separately from membership.

As an Amazon Associate, Cine Claus earns from qualifying purchases. Buying through a link helps pay for the site - it never changes a score.

Streaming changes constantly and we cannot promise it is still right - check the service before you settle in. Streaming availability information provided by Streaming Availability API by Movie of the Night (opens in a new tab).

The story

About The Green Knight

On Christmas Day a towering stranger made of bark and moss interrupts a royal feast and proposes a game: anyone may strike him once, provided they take the same blow in return a year later. An untested young knight, keen to prove himself, takes his head, and as the next Christmas approaches he must ride out on a long, uncanny journey to keep his side of the bargain.

The CineClaus verdict

A Christmas film in the way a ghost story is: the season sets the clock and then steps aside.

Lowery turns a medieval poem into something slow and strange, often beautiful to look at, and Patel is very good as a young man who wants a legend more than he wants to earn one.

It asks for patience and offers no easy answers, which will thrill some viewers and lose others by the second hour. Save it for a dark evening and give it your full attention.

The family desk

Can the kids watch?

15

Our take: keep this one for older teenagers and adults: bloody fantastical beheadings, strong sex references and a steady sense of dread.

Content advice & accessibility
Our age guidance
Editorial, separate from the official 15 certificate, and never looser than it.
The people behind the film

Cast and crew

The faces in front of the camera, and the people who brought the story to life.

Main cast

In billing order
Close portrait of Dev Patel at a press panel, dark curly hair and a beard, a microphone in front of him.Dev Patelas Sir Gawain
Alicia Vikanderas Essel / the Lady
Joel Edgertonas the Lord
Sean Harrisas King Arthur
Sarita Choudhuryas Mother
Kate Dickieas Queen Guinevere
Ralph Inesonas the Green Knight
Barry Keoghanas the Scavenger

Behind the camera

Directed by
David Lowery
Original score
Daniel Hart
Writing & production credits
Writer
David Lowery
Photo credits

Portraits via Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence, approved for this page by a person. Sources and full photographer credits:

Dev Patel · Ariela Ortiz Barrantes · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab).

Keep the Christmas feeling

Music & soundtrack

That tune you recognised. That score you loved. Take a little of the film into the rest of your Christmas.

Every track on the soundtrack album, in album order.

Behind the music. Daniel Hart composed the score.

About this music list

These are the songs and soundtrack we hold for the film, not a complete cue sheet, and they give no scene timings. Album track lists and durations come from MusicBrainz. Spotify and Apple Music links open the matched recordings; links marked Search open a search on that service. Album covers are each release's own, from the Cover Art Archive, credited under the cover.

composer.spitfireaudio.com ↗ (opens in a new tab) MusicBrainz ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Step into the story

Filming locations

The real places behind The Green Knight. Choose one to explore.

Find it on the mapArdmore Studios

© OpenStreetMap contributors (opens in a new tab)

Open larger map ↗ (OpenStreetMap, opens in a new tab)

Map shows the selected place. Drag to explore; use + and − to zoom.

Choose your next scene

3 places from The Green Knight

There’s more behind the film.
Explore the next place.

Location sources

Ardmore Studios · wikidata.org (opens in a new tab)

Cahir Castle · wikidata.org (opens in a new tab)

Charleville Castle · wikidata.org (opens in a new tab)

Map pins mark the place, not a camera position or a route. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), including any pin positions read from OpenStreetMap.

A little more The Green Knight

Film facts &
behind the scenes

For the fans who stay after the credits.

Music & sound

A score built on recorders and a medieval Swedish fiddle

Composer Daniel Hart leaned on recorders, the nyckelharpa and a one-off instrument called the Apprehension Engine, and used only a few sounds from a modern synthesiser.

Read the story
On your next watchListen for the recorder lines under the quieter travelling scenes.

Source: composer.spitfireaudio.com ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Music & sound

Songs written words first, in Middle English

The film carries four songs, mostly written lyrics-first. Hart took a crash course in Middle English poetry to write them, and some vocals sing in Latin, French and an invented medieval language.

Read the story

Source: composer.spitfireaudio.com ↗ (opens in a new tab)

On set

Early demos made it into the final film

Hart visited the set near Dublin in April 2019 and wrote demos before he had footage. Some of those early sketches survived almost unchanged into the finished film.

Read the story

Source: composer.spitfireaudio.com ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Sources & a note on these facts

Each production story is linked to its source, in our own words. Ending details stay behind a spoiler reveal.

More like this

If The Green Knight is your kind of Christmas…

Find another favourite →
Swipe to browse all three →

Collections, stories & Christmas memories

Elsewhere on CineClaus

More places to find The Green Knight, and a few good reasons to keep exploring.

In this collection

The best Christmas films for adults

The Green Knight is in this collection

Explore the collection
Stay for another story.All collections · The Christmas Edit