The work of Portishead co-founder Geoff Barrow, this sharp-edged though undernourished first film turns a sceptical eye on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Venal pillhead David (Marc Bessant) first robs an unconscious dealer, then in a later recollection tries to burgle his own family home. 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 Woodsman (Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson). Refusing to extricate David, with impatience toward city dwellers, he is a fractured society embodied: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.”
Unsteady Opening and Darkly Funny Confrontation
The film begins uncertainly, spending too long on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to extricate himself from his seatbelt, while clumsily segueing into flashbacks of his normal activities. The central theme – that the rave-era youth were mainly focused on number one – is firmly made. But these vignettes are too thin to properly prime us for what to expect when the Woodsman turns up, enraged after David kills his dog. Nevertheless, a grimly amusing standoff takes hold – David desperate to escape; the Woodsman withholding his jerrycan of cider, determined to soaking him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, exuding ponderous menace in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Promo-Inspired Sensibility
There is only one key story turn, but it leads to a comically executed rampage on the forest trails that veers toward folk horror. Filmmaker John Minton at last unleashes with his showy imagery: where he was focused intently doing impressionistic closeups of insects in the light in the opening part, he now goes all out with the full lysergic grand display, soundtracked to a frenzied keyboard rendition of Ravel’s Boléro. The movie resembles an extended promo than a fully fledged drama, but there’s enough bold visuals to suggest that Minton could follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into successfully graduating from the Brit music promo scene.
Game is in British and Irish theaters from November 17.
