Helmed by Bristol sound co-founder the musician-producer, this scabrous if slight first film turns a sceptical eye on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Self-serving drug user David (Marc Bessant) initially steals from an passed-out supplier, then in a later recollection tries to break into his own family home. Before you can say, he's overturned in the remains of his car in a woodland – and subject to the wrathful eye of the Woodsman (Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with no time for city dwellers, he is broken Britain personified: “You’re one of those loud individuals from up on the heath.”
Unsteady Opening and Grimly Amusing Confrontation
The film begins uncertainly, lingering excessively on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to free himself from his seatbelt, while clumsily segueing into past scenes of his normal activities. The central theme – that the rave-era youth were mainly focused on themselves – is firmly made. But these brief episodes are too thin to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Woodsman arrives, enraged after David kills his dog. Still, a grimly amusing standoff unfolds – David eager to get away; the Woodsman denying his container of scrumpy, intent on soaking him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, projecting ponderous menace in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Music Video Sensibility
There is only one key story turn, but it leads to a comically executed chaotic run 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 early stages, he now lets rip with the full psychedelic grand display, accompanied by 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 emulate Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into making the leap from the Brit music promo scene.
Game releases in UK and Irish cinemas from 17 November.
