Helmed by Bristol sound co-founder the musician-producer, this scabrous though slight first film turns a sceptical eye on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Venal pillhead David (Marc Bessant) initially steals from an passed-out supplier, then in a later recollection tries to burgle his own family home. In no time, he's upside down in the wreckage of his car in a forest – and subject to the wrathful eye of the Woodsman (Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with no time for townies, he is a fractured society embodied: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.”
A Shaky Start and Darkly Funny Duel
The film begins uncertainly, spending too long on meticulously detailing David’s attempt to extricate himself from his seatbelt, while clumsily segueing into flashbacks of his normal activities. The bigger point – that the ecstasy generation were mainly focused on themselves – is firmly made. But these vignettes are insufficiently developed to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Poacher arrives, enraged after David kills his dog. Still, a darkly funny duel takes hold – David eager to get away; the Poacher withholding his jerrycan of cider, intent on soaking him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, projecting ponderous menace in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Music Video Vibe
Just a single key story turn, but it leads to a comically executed rampage on the forest trails that veers toward rural terror. Director John Minton finally gets to go all in with his showy imagery: where he was focused intently doing impressionistic closeups of bugs in headlights in the opening part, he now lets rip with the full psychedelic grand display, accompanied by a frenzied keyboard rendition of Ravel’s Boléro. The movie resembles an elongated music video than a fully fledged drama, but there’s enough strident imagery to suggest that Minton could follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into successfully graduating from the UK video industry.
Game releases in British and Irish cinemas from November 17.
