The work of Portishead co-founder Geoff Barrow, this scabrous though undernourished debut feature casts a critical gaze on 90s rave culture. Venal drug user David (the actor) initially steals from an unconscious dealer, then in a later recollection tries to break into 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 Woodsman (Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with impatience toward townies, he is a fractured society embodied: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.”
A Shaky Start and Grimly Amusing Confrontation
The film begins uncertainly, spending too long on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to extricate himself from his seatbelt, while clumsily segueing into past scenes of his everyday life. The central theme – that the rave-era youth were primarily out for number one – is clearly conveyed. But these brief episodes are too thin to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Woodsman turns up, enraged after David kills his dog. Still, a darkly funny standoff unfolds – David eager to get away; the Woodsman withholding his jerrycan of scrumpy, determined to soaking him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, projecting heavy threat in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Promo-Inspired Vibe
There is only one important plot development, but it results in a hilariously staged rampage on the woodland paths that dips close to folk horror. Filmmaker John Minton at last unleashes with his showy imagery: where he was hunkered down doing impressionistic closeups of insects in the light in the opening part, he now lets rip with the full psychedelic grand display, soundtracked to a wild organ version of Ravel’s Boléro. Game feels more like an extended promo than a complete narrative, but there’s enough strident imagery to suggest that Minton could emulate Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into successfully graduating from the UK video industry.
The film releases in UK and Irish cinemas from November 17.
