Helmed by Portishead co-founder the musician-producer, this sharp-edged though undernourished first film casts a critical gaze on 90s rave culture. Self-serving drug user David (the actor) initially steals from 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 woodland – and subject to the wrathful eye of the Woodsman (vocalist Jason Williamson). Refusing to extricate David, with impatience toward city dwellers, he is a fractured society personified: “You’re one of those loud individuals from up on the heath.”
Unsteady Opening and Grimly Amusing Duel
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 adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Poacher arrives, enraged after David strangles his dog. Nevertheless, a grimly amusing duel takes hold – David eager to get away; the Woodsman withholding his jerrycan of cider, intent on soaking him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, projecting ponderous menace in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Promo-Inspired Vibe
There is only one key story turn, but it results in a hilariously staged chaotic run on the forest trails that dips close to folk horror. 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 early stages, he now goes all out with the full psychedelic grand display, soundtracked to a frenzied keyboard rendition of Ravel’s Boléro. The movie resembles an extended promo than a complete narrative, but there’s enough strident imagery to suggest that Minton could emulate Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into successfully graduating from the Brit music promo scene.
Game is in UK and Irish theaters from November 17.
