Produced by Portishead co-founder Geoff Barrow, this scabrous if undernourished first film turns a sceptical eye on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Venal pillhead David (Marc Bessant) initially steals from an passed-out supplier, then in a later recollection tries to burgle his own parents. Before you can say, he's overturned in the wreckage of his car in a woodland – and subject to the wrathful eye of the Poacher (vocalist Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with impatience toward townies, he is a fractured society personified: “You’re one of those loud individuals from up on the heath.”
Unsteady Opening and Darkly Funny Confrontation
The film begins uncertainly, lingering excessively on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to free himself from his seatbelt, while awkwardly transitioning into flashbacks of his normal activities. The bigger point – that the rave-era youth were primarily out for number one – is firmly made. But these vignettes are too thin to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Woodsman arrives, enraged after David strangles his dog. Still, a grimly amusing standoff takes hold – David eager to get away; the Woodsman withholding his jerrycan of scrumpy, determined to dousing him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, projecting ponderous menace in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Music Video Vibe
Just a single key story turn, but it leads to a hilariously staged rampage on the woodland paths that dips close to rural terror. Filmmaker John Minton finally gets to go all in with his showy imagery: where he was hunkered down doing impressionistic closeups of bugs in headlights in the opening part, he now lets rip with the full psychedelic 21-gun salute, soundtracked to a wild organ version 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 et al into successfully graduating from the UK video industry.
Game is in British and Irish cinemas from November 17.
