One of the defining characteristics of is Roth’s use of a tight-knit family of Chilean actors. Lorenza Izzo (Roth’s then-wife) delivers a surprisingly strong performance as Justine, transforming from a whimpering victim into a resourceful survivor. Ariel Levy is gleefully detestable as Alejandro.

Common criticism: "It wants to be a political satire and a cannibal movie, and it fails at both." Common praise: "No one directs visceral, tactile horror like Eli Roth. You feel every cut."

The Green Inferno received mixed reviews from critics, with some praising its intense and suspenseful moments, while others criticized its graphic violence and perceived colonialist undertones. The movie holds a 5.8/10 rating on IMDB and a 23% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The production of the film is a story in itself. Roth filmed on location in a remote Peruvian village that had never seen a film crew or a television. In interviews, Roth noted that the villagers were incredibly welcoming and even participated as extras, though the concept of a "movie" had to be explained to them via a screening of Cannibal Holocaust. This authenticity lends the film a layer of realism that a soundstage could never replicate, though it also invited criticism regarding the depiction of indigenous people as bloodthirsty savages—a trope that has haunted the cannibal subgenre since its inception.

The Green Inferno cannot be understood without its shadow text: Cannibal Holocaust . Roth pays explicit tribute, from the film’s title (taken from the fictional documentary within Deodato’s film) to the jungle setting and the graphic anthropological detail. However, Roth inverts the original’s moral calculus. Deodato’s film was a meta-critique of sensationalist media, framing the white documentarians as the true savages for staging atrocities for profit. Roth, by contrast, presents the activists as well-intentioned but fatally stupid. The Indigenous tribe in Cannibal Holocaust is provoked; the Illya in The Green Inferno are acting on undisturbed tradition.