Helmed by Portishead co-founder Geoff Barrow, 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 another flashback tries to burgle his own family home. Before you can say, he's upside down in the remains of his car in a woodland – and subject to the angry eye of the Poacher (Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson). Refusing to extricate David, with impatience toward 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, spending too long on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to free himself from his safety harness, while awkwardly transitioning into flashbacks of his everyday life. The bigger point – that the rave-era youth were mainly focused on themselves – is firmly made. But these vignettes are too thin to properly prime us for what to expect when the Poacher turns up, fuming after David kills his dog. Still, a grimly amusing duel takes hold – David eager to get away; the Poacher denying his container of cider, intent on soaking him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, exuding heavy threat 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 forest trails that dips close to folk horror. Director 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 lysergic 21-gun salute, soundtracked to a wild organ version of Ravel’s Boléro. Game feels more like an elongated music video than a complete narrative, but there’s enough bold visuals to suggest that Minton could follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings et al into making the leap from the UK video industry.
The film releases in UK and Irish cinemas from November 17.
