The Green Knight from writer and director David Lowery explores a morality tale saturated with fantastical elements. Dev Patel stars as Gawain, a lackadaisical youth who boldly (foolishly?) steps into his future by agreeing to a game. When the titular Green Knight (Ralph Ineson) sweeps into King Arthur’s court on Christmas to propose a game—he invites someone to strike a blow upon him if that person will receive an equal blow in return in one year’s time—Gawain agrees. The young man picks up the Green Knight’s ax and decapitates the mysterious figure, which is a choice. Then as the year mark approaches, Gawain goes on an epic journey to meet his fate.
The beautiful A24 film has been in theaters for almost two weeks, which means many have had the chance to see Lowery’s elegant, thought-provoking story. We spoke with Lowery about the inspirations for the film and Gawain’s journey. And we also have a spoiler-free exclusive clip from The Green Knight. Here, a talking fox gives Gawain a severe warning.
The fox encourages Gawain to halt and turn away from fulfilling his bargain with the Green Knight. This is not a cute, reassuring fox. No. Instead this fox, who accompanies Gawain for a fair amount of his journey, has threatening vibes. And the creature seems to know Gawain’s already feeling a bit cowardly about the whole situation anyway. Patel communicates Gawain’s “seriously questioning my life choices” inner thoughts quite clearly in the clip.
A24
As for what Gawain does with this warning… you’ll have to watch the movie and see. And once you see it, read this commentary from Lowery on the ending. The Green Knight is in theaters now.
Amy Ratcliffe is the Managing Editor for Nerdist and the author of A Kid’s Guide to Fandom, available now. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.