Helmed by Portishead co-founder the musician-producer, this sharp-edged if slight first film turns a sceptical eye on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Venal drug user David (Marc Bessant) first robs an passed-out supplier, then in a later recollection tries to burgle his own parents. In no time, he's overturned in the wreckage of his car in a forest – 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 embodied: “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 seatbelt, while awkwardly transitioning into past scenes of his everyday life. The bigger point – that the ecstasy generation were primarily out for number one – is firmly made. But these vignettes are insufficiently developed to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Poacher turns up, fuming after David strangles his dog. Still, a grimly amusing standoff takes hold – David desperate to escape; the Woodsman withholding his jerrycan of cider, determined to dousing him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, projecting ponderous menace in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Music Video Vibe
Just a single important plot development, but it results in a hilariously staged rampage on the woodland paths that dips close to rural terror. Filmmaker John Minton finally gets to go all in with his ostentatious visuals: where he was focused intently doing artful shots of bugs in headlights in the early stages, he now goes all out with the full psychedelic 21-gun salute, soundtracked to a wild organ version of Ravel’s Boléro. The movie resembles an extended promo than a fully fledged drama, but there’s enough strident imagery to suggest that Minton could follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings et al into successfully graduating from the UK video industry.
Game is in UK and Irish cinemas from November 17.
