Produced by Bristol sound co-founder the musician-producer, this scabrous though undernourished first film casts a critical gaze on 90s rave culture. Venal pillhead David (Marc Bessant) initially steals from an unconscious dealer, then in a later recollection tries to break into his own parents. Before you can say, he's upside down in the remains of his car in a woodland – and subject to the wrathful eye of the Woodsman (vocalist Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with no time for city dwellers, he is a fractured society embodied: “You’re one of those loud individuals from up on the heath.”
A Shaky Start and Darkly Funny Duel
The film begins uncertainly, spending too long on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to extricate himself from his safety harness, while clumsily segueing into flashbacks of his everyday life. The central theme – that the rave-era youth were mainly focused on themselves – is clearly conveyed. But these vignettes are too thin to properly prime us for what to expect when the Poacher arrives, fuming after David kills his dog. Nevertheless, a grimly amusing duel unfolds – David desperate to escape; the Woodsman denying his container of scrumpy, intent on soaking him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, exuding ponderous menace in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Music Video Sensibility
There is only one important plot development, but it leads to a hilariously staged 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 bugs in headlights 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 elongated music video than a complete narrative, but there’s enough strident imagery to suggest that Minton could follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings et al into making the leap from the UK video industry.
The film releases in British and Irish cinemas from 17 November.
