Produced by Bristol sound co-founder the musician-producer, this sharp-edged though undernourished first film casts a critical gaze on 90s rave culture. Venal drug user David (Marc Bessant) first robs an passed-out supplier, then in another flashback tries to break into his own parents. In no time, he's upside down in the wreckage of his car in a forest – 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.”
A Shaky Start and Darkly Funny Duel
Game gets off to a shaky start, spending too long on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to extricate himself from his safety harness, while awkwardly transitioning into flashbacks of his normal activities. The central theme – that the ecstasy generation were primarily out for themselves – is firmly made. But these brief episodes are too thin to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Woodsman turns up, fuming after David kills his dog. Nevertheless, a darkly funny duel takes hold – David desperate to escape; the Woodsman denying his container of cider, intent on soaking him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, exuding heavy threat in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Promo-Inspired Sensibility
There is only one important plot development, but it leads to a comically executed rampage on the woodland paths that veers toward rural terror. Filmmaker 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 goes all out with the full lysergic grand display, soundtracked to a wild organ version of Ravel’s Boléro. The movie resembles an elongated music video than a fully fledged drama, but there’s enough bold visuals to suggest that Minton could emulate Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into making the leap from the UK video industry.
The film releases in British and Irish cinemas from November 17.
