The work of Portishead co-founder Geoff Barrow, this scabrous if slight 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 break into his own parents. Before you can say, he's overturned in the wreckage of his car in a forest – and subject to the wrathful eye of the Poacher (vocalist Jason Williamson). Refusing to extricate David, with impatience toward townies, he is a fractured society personified: “You’re one of those loud individuals from up on the heath.”
Unsteady Opening and Grimly Amusing Duel
Game gets off to a shaky start, spending too long on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to free himself from his seatbelt, while clumsily segueing into flashbacks of his normal activities. The bigger point – that the rave-era youth were primarily out for themselves – is firmly made. But these brief episodes are insufficiently developed to properly prime us for what to expect when the Poacher arrives, fuming after David kills his dog. Nevertheless, a darkly funny standoff unfolds – David eager to get away; the Woodsman withholding his jerrycan of cider, determined to soaking him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, projecting ponderous menace in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Promo-Inspired Vibe
Just a single important plot development, but it results in a hilariously staged chaotic run on the woodland paths that dips close to rural terror. Filmmaker John Minton finally gets to go all in with his showy imagery: where he was hunkered down doing impressionistic closeups of bugs in headlights in the opening part, he now goes all out with the full lysergic 21-gun salute, accompanied by a wild organ version of Ravel’s Boléro. The movie resembles 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 making the leap from the Brit music promo scene.
Game releases in UK and Irish cinemas from November 17.
