Produced by Portishead co-founder Geoff Barrow, this scabrous though slight debut feature casts a critical gaze on 90s rave culture. Venal pillhead David (the actor) initially steals from an unconscious dealer, then in another flashback tries to break into his own family home. In no time, he's upside down in the remains of his car in a woodland – and subject to the angry eye of the Woodsman (Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson). Refusing to extricate David, with no time for city dwellers, he is broken Britain embodied: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.”
A Shaky Start and Darkly Funny Confrontation
Game gets off to a shaky start, lingering excessively on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to free himself from his safety harness, while awkwardly transitioning into flashbacks of his normal activities. The bigger point – that the rave-era youth were mainly focused on themselves – is clearly conveyed. But these vignettes are insufficiently developed to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Poacher arrives, enraged after David strangles his dog. Still, a darkly funny duel takes hold – David desperate to escape; the Poacher withholding his jerrycan of scrumpy, intent on soaking him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, exuding heavy threat in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Promo-Inspired Vibe
There is only one key story turn, but it results in a hilariously staged rampage on the woodland paths that dips close to folk horror. Filmmaker John Minton at last unleashes with his ostentatious visuals: where he was hunkered down doing impressionistic closeups of insects in the light in the opening part, he now goes all out with the full lysergic grand display, soundtracked to a frenzied keyboard rendition 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 emulate Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings et al into successfully graduating from the Brit music promo scene.
The film is in British and Irish theaters from November 17.
