Helmed by Portishead co-founder Geoff Barrow, this sharp-edged if undernourished first film turns a sceptical eye on 90s rave culture. Self-serving drug user David (the actor) first robs an passed-out supplier, then in a later recollection tries to burgle his own family home. Before you can say, he's upside down in the wreckage 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 city dwellers, he is a fractured society embodied: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.”
Unsteady Opening and Grimly Amusing Duel
The film begins uncertainly, spending too long on meticulously detailing David’s attempt to free himself from his safety harness, while clumsily segueing into flashbacks of his normal activities. The bigger point – that the ecstasy generation were mainly focused on themselves – is clearly conveyed. But these vignettes are insufficiently developed to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Poacher arrives, enraged after David kills his dog. Still, a darkly funny standoff unfolds – David eager to get away; the Woodsman withholding his jerrycan of cider, determined to soaking him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, exuding heavy threat in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Music Video Vibe
Just a single important plot development, but it leads to a hilariously staged chaotic run on the forest trails that veers toward folk horror. Director John Minton at last unleashes with his ostentatious visuals: where he was hunkered down doing impressionistic closeups of bugs in headlights in the early stages, he now goes all out with the full psychedelic grand display, soundtracked to a frenzied keyboard rendition of Ravel’s Boléro. Game feels more like an elongated music video than a fully fledged drama, but there’s enough bold visuals to suggest that Minton could emulate Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings et al into making the leap from the UK video industry.
The film is in UK and Irish cinemas from 17 November.
