History YMMV / TheGreenKnight

* CriticalDissonance: Just like [[Film/AGhostStory the director's previous film]] (and in general A24 style), it's received rapturous critical reviews but a divided audience response. It currently holds a critical score on Rotten Tomatoes of 89%, and an audience score of 52%.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:

** Gawain’s mother. [[spoiler: An evil witch a la Morgan Le Fay, using her own son to bring about Camelot’s downfall? A mother trying to encourage her son’s destiny and force him to find his inner knight? Or was she planning for the Knight to humiliate Arthur, not expecting Gawain to take up the mantle?]]

** The titular character goes from a man with green skin and clothes to a rather [[https://signalhorizon.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/The-Green-Knight-_-Official-Teaser-Trailer-HD-_-A24-1-16-screenshot.png unique and intimidating]] design. The voice helps.

** The scene at Winifred's is surprisingly full of deadpan comedy in spite of being a spooky scene in an already haunting movie. Overall, the ghost girl seems pretty irritated by Gawain, who broke into her house, slept in her bed (and as the reveal of her skeleton later shows, he might've unknowingly ''laid on top of her remains''), tried to poke at her to see if she's real, and asked for compensation in return for retrieving her skull. She just seems really annoyed by the guy's general lack of chivalry.
** The scene before Gawain departs the castle has him coming home hungover from a tavern and finds his mother and the King waiting for him. Earns you a chuckle that even in medieval times, finding your parents waiting too patiently for your very late-night arrival is still common.
** A small one at the Green Chapel. Gawain arrives but finds the Green Knight in slumber, obviously waiting until Christmas to meet Gawain. Gawain ends up waiting and during the night before Christmas, the Knight visibly awakens, sees Gawain waiting, then promptly falls back asleep. It's as if he's thinking "Oh shit, you're early. Ehh, I guess I can catch some more zzz's, I got time."
** In a similar quietly funny tone is the proper encounter with the Green Knight. While Gawain’s increasing panic and frustration is heartbreaking, the Green Knight’s patient, vaguely confused reaction to the whole thing just adds a darkly funny layer. By the second time Gawain backs out of the beheading, the Knight almost seems ''annoyed'' that Gawain thinks there’s more to the duel than just his death.

* MagnificentBastard: The titular [[PunchClockVillain Green Knight]] is a mysterious being testing the knighthood of young Gawain, offering his neck to a blow at Christmas Day with the stipulation that Gawain will receive a strike in turn a year hence. After [[LosingYourHead leaving with his own severed head]], the Green Knight is heavily implied to be the lord of a nearby castle who likewise tests Gawain with his wife and a magical girdle before their final confrontation in the Green Chapel. The Green Knight then indicates it was all a test once Gawain removes the girdle after a vision of the future and [[UncertainDoom leaves it unclear]] if he will spare Gawain or take his head for real.

** NightmareFuel: The Lady's "seduction" of Gawain, mainly due to its changing from a chivalrous game to a nearly outright sexual assault during which Gawain is clearly terrified.

* {{Squick}}: We get a lovely shot of Gawain's hand covered in his own emissions after he's seduced by the Lady. [[spoiler:Even more awful if you consider the implications that she might be his own mother in disguise.]]

** The scene before Gawain departs the castle has him coming home hangover from a tavern and finds his mother and the King waiting for him. Earns you a chuckle that even in medieval times, finding your parents waiting too patiently for your very late-night arrival is still common.

* MagnificentBastard: The titular [[PunchClockVillain Green Knight]] is a mysterious being testing the knighthood of young Gawain, offering his neck to a blow at Christmas Day with the stipulation that Gawain will receive a strike in turn a year hence. After [[LosingYourHead leaving with his own severed head]], the Green Knight is heavily implied to be the lord of a nearby castle who likewise tests Gawain with his wife and a magical girdle before their final confrontation in the Green Chapel. The Green Knight then indicates it was all a test once Gawain removes the girdle after a vision of the future and [[AmbiguousSituation leaves it unclear]] if he will spare Gawain or take his head for real.

*** In a similar quietly funny tone is the proper encounter with the Green Knight. While Gawain’s increasing panic and frustration is heartbreaking, the Green Knight’s patient, vaguely confused reaction to the whole thing just adds a darkly funny layer. By the second time Gawain backs out of the beheading, the Knight almost seems ''annoyed'' that Gawain thinks there’s more to the duel than just his death.

* {{Squick}}: We get a [[SarcasmMode lovely]] ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion End of Evangelion]]''-style shot of Gawain's hand covered in his... emissions after he's seduced by the Lady. [[spoiler:Even more awful if you consider the implications that she might be his own mother in disguise.]]

** Gawain’s Mother. [[spoiler: An evil witch ala Morgan Le Fay, using her own son to bring about Camelot’s downfall? A mother trying to encourage her son’s destiny and force him to find his inner knight? Or was she planning for the Knight to humiliate Arthur, not expecting Gawain to take up the mantle?]]

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Much of the music, but [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANDhcT3H_fI the song that plays at the start of the final segment]] is especially haunting and beautiful.