Produced by Portishead co-founder Geoff Barrow, this scabrous though slight debut feature casts a critical gaze on 90s rave culture. Venal drug user David (the actor) initially steals from an unconscious dealer, then in a later recollection tries to burgle his own family home. Before you can say, he's overturned in the remains of his car in a forest – and subject to the wrathful eye of the Woodsman (vocalist Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with no time for city dwellers, he is a fractured society personified: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.”
A Shaky Start and Grimly Amusing Confrontation
The film begins uncertainly, lingering excessively on meticulously detailing David’s attempt to extricate himself from his safety harness, while clumsily segueing into past scenes of his normal activities. The bigger point – that the ecstasy generation were mainly focused on number one – is clearly conveyed. But these vignettes are too thin to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Poacher turns up, fuming after David strangles his dog. Still, a grimly amusing standoff unfolds – David desperate to escape; the Poacher withholding his jerrycan of scrumpy, determined to dousing him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, exuding ponderous menace in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Music Video Sensibility
There is only one important plot development, but it results in a comically executed chaotic run on the woodland paths that dips close to rural terror. Filmmaker John Minton finally gets to go all in with his ostentatious visuals: where he was hunkered down doing artful shots of insects in the light in the opening part, he now lets rip with the full psychedelic 21-gun salute, soundtracked to a frenzied keyboard rendition 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 follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into successfully graduating from the Brit music promo scene.
Game is in British and Irish cinemas from 17 November.
