Produced by Portishead co-founder Geoff Barrow, this scabrous if undernourished first film casts a critical gaze on 90s rave culture. Venal drug user David (Marc Bessant) first robs an unconscious dealer, then in another flashback tries to break into his own parents. Before you can say, he's upside down in the remains of his car in a woodland – and subject to the angry eye of the Poacher (Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson). Refusing to extricate David, with no time for townies, he is a fractured society embodied: “You’re one of those loud individuals from up on the heath.”
Unsteady Opening and Darkly Funny Duel
Game gets off to a shaky start, lingering excessively on meticulously detailing David’s attempt to free himself from his seatbelt, while clumsily segueing into flashbacks of his everyday life. The bigger point – that the ecstasy generation were primarily out for number one – is firmly made. But these vignettes are insufficiently developed to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Woodsman turns up, fuming after David strangles his dog. Nevertheless, a grimly amusing duel takes hold – David desperate to escape; the Poacher withholding his jerrycan of cider, intent on dousing him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, projecting ponderous menace in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Music Video Sensibility
Just a single important plot development, but it leads to a hilariously staged rampage on the forest trails that dips close to folk horror. Director John Minton finally gets to go all in with his showy imagery: where he was hunkered down doing impressionistic closeups of insects in the light in the opening part, he now goes all out with the full psychedelic grand display, soundtracked to a wild organ version of Ravel’s Boléro. The movie resembles an elongated music video than a complete narrative, but there’s enough strident imagery to suggest that Minton could emulate Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings et al into successfully graduating from the Brit music promo scene.
The film is in British and Irish theaters from 17 November.
