Helmed by Bristol sound co-founder the musician-producer, this scabrous though undernourished debut feature casts a critical gaze on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Venal drug user David (Marc Bessant) first robs an passed-out supplier, then in a later recollection tries to burgle his own family home. Before you can say, he's overturned in the wreckage of his car in a woodland – and subject to the angry eye of the Poacher (vocalist Jason Williamson). Refusing to extricate David, with no time for townies, he is a fractured society personified: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.”
A Shaky Start and Darkly Funny Duel
The film begins uncertainly, spending too long on meticulously detailing David’s attempt to free himself from his seatbelt, while awkwardly transitioning into flashbacks of his everyday life. The central theme – that the rave-era youth were mainly focused on number one – is firmly made. But these brief episodes are insufficiently developed to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Poacher turns up, fuming after David kills his dog. Still, a darkly funny standoff takes hold – David desperate to escape; the Woodsman denying his container of cider, determined to dousing him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, projecting heavy threat in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Music Video Sensibility
Just a single important plot development, but it results in a comically executed rampage on the forest trails that veers toward rural terror. 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 21-gun salute, soundtracked to 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 emulate Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings et al into successfully graduating from the UK video industry.
The film releases in UK and Irish cinemas from 17 November.
