Produced by Bristol sound co-founder the musician-producer, this scabrous if undernourished debut feature casts a critical gaze on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Self-serving drug user David (Marc Bessant) first robs an passed-out supplier, then in a later recollection tries to burgle his own family home. 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 (Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with impatience toward city dwellers, he is broken Britain 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 meticulously detailing David’s attempt to free himself from his safety harness, while awkwardly transitioning into past scenes of his normal activities. The bigger point – that the rave-era youth were mainly focused on number one – is firmly made. But these brief episodes are too thin to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Woodsman arrives, fuming after David strangles his dog. Still, a grimly amusing standoff unfolds – David desperate to escape; the Poacher withholding his jerrycan of cider, determined to dousing him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, projecting ponderous menace in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Promo-Inspired Sensibility
Just a single important plot development, but it leads to a comically executed rampage on the woodland paths that veers toward folk horror. Director John Minton finally gets to go all in with his ostentatious visuals: where he was hunkered down doing artful shots of bugs in headlights in the early stages, he now lets rip with the full psychedelic grand display, soundtracked to a wild organ version of Ravel’s Boléro. Game feels more like an extended promo than a fully fledged drama, but there’s enough strident imagery to suggest that Minton could emulate Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into successfully graduating from the UK video industry.
Game is in British and Irish theaters from 17 November.
