Produced by Bristol sound co-founder Geoff Barrow, this scabrous though slight first film turns a sceptical eye on 90s rave culture. Self-serving drug user David (the actor) initially steals from an passed-out supplier, then in another flashback tries to burgle his own parents. Before you can say, he's overturned in the wreckage of his car in a woodland – and subject to the wrathful eye of the Woodsman (vocalist Jason Williamson). Refusing to extricate David, with impatience toward city dwellers, he is broken Britain personified: “You’re one of those loud individuals from up on the heath.”
A Shaky Start and Grimly Amusing Confrontation
The film begins uncertainly, lingering excessively on meticulously detailing David’s attempt to extricate himself from his seatbelt, while awkwardly transitioning into flashbacks of his everyday life. The central theme – that the ecstasy generation were mainly focused on number one – is clearly conveyed. But these brief episodes are too thin to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Woodsman arrives, enraged after David strangles his dog. Still, a grimly amusing duel unfolds – David desperate to escape; the Poacher withholding his jerrycan of cider, intent on soaking him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, projecting ponderous menace in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Promo-Inspired Sensibility
Just a single key story turn, but it results in a comically executed chaotic run on the forest trails that veers toward folk horror. Director John Minton at last unleashes with his showy imagery: where he was hunkered down doing impressionistic closeups of bugs in headlights in the early stages, he now lets rip with the full psychedelic grand display, accompanied by a wild organ version of Ravel’s Boléro. Game feels more like an elongated music video than a fully fledged drama, but there’s enough strident imagery to suggest that Minton could follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into successfully graduating from the Brit music promo scene.
Game releases in British and Irish cinemas from November 17.
