The work of Portishead co-founder the musician-producer, this scabrous if slight first film casts a critical gaze on 90s rave culture. Venal pillhead David (Marc Bessant) first robs an passed-out supplier, then in another flashback tries to burgle his own parents. Before you can say, he's overturned in the remains of his car in a woodland – and subject to the angry eye of the Poacher (vocalist Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with impatience toward city dwellers, he is broken Britain embodied: “You’re one of those loud individuals from up on the heath.”
A Shaky Start 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 awkwardly transitioning into past scenes of his everyday life. The bigger point – that the ecstasy generation were mainly focused on number one – is firmly made. But these brief episodes are too thin to properly prime us for what to expect when the Woodsman arrives, enraged after David kills his dog. Still, a grimly amusing duel takes hold – David eager to get away; the Woodsman denying his container of cider, determined to soaking him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, exuding heavy threat in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Promo-Inspired Sensibility
Just a single important plot development, but it results in a hilariously staged rampage on the woodland paths that veers toward rural terror. Director John Minton at last unleashes with his ostentatious visuals: where he was focused intently doing impressionistic closeups of insects in the light in the early stages, he now lets rip with the full psychedelic grand display, accompanied by a frenzied keyboard rendition of Ravel’s Boléro. Game feels more like an elongated music video than a complete narrative, but there’s enough strident imagery to suggest that Minton could emulate Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into making the leap from the Brit music promo scene.
The film releases in UK and Irish cinemas from November 17.
