The work of Portishead co-founder Geoff Barrow, this scabrous if undernourished debut feature 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 burgle his own parents. In no time, he's upside down in the wreckage of his car in a woodland – and subject to the angry eye of the Poacher (Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with no time for city dwellers, he is broken Britain embodied: “You’re one of those loud individuals from up on the heath.”
Unsteady Opening and Grimly Amusing Duel
The film begins uncertainly, spending too long on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to free himself from his seatbelt, while awkwardly transitioning into flashbacks of his normal activities. The central theme – that the rave-era youth were mainly focused on themselves – is clearly conveyed. But these brief episodes are too thin to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Woodsman arrives, enraged after David strangles his dog. Still, a darkly funny standoff unfolds – David desperate to escape; the Poacher withholding his jerrycan of cider, determined to soaking him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, projecting heavy threat in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Music Video Vibe
There is only one key story turn, but it leads to a comically executed rampage on the forest trails that dips close to folk horror. Filmmaker John Minton at last unleashes with his ostentatious visuals: 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, accompanied by 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 and others into making the leap from the UK video industry.
Game is in UK and Irish theaters from November 17.
