Helmed by Bristol sound co-founder Geoff Barrow, this sharp-edged if slight debut feature turns a sceptical eye on 90s rave culture. Venal drug user David (the actor) first robs an unconscious dealer, then in another flashback tries to burgle his own parents. Before you can say, he's upside down in the wreckage of his car in a forest – and subject to the angry eye of the Woodsman (vocalist Jason Williamson). Refusing to extricate David, with no time for city dwellers, he is a fractured society personified: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.”
Unsteady Opening and Darkly Funny Confrontation
Game gets off to a shaky start, spending too long on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to extricate himself from his safety harness, while awkwardly transitioning into past scenes of his everyday life. The bigger point – that the rave-era youth were primarily out for number one – is firmly made. But these vignettes are too thin to properly prime us for what to expect when the Woodsman turns up, enraged after David kills his dog. Nevertheless, a grimly amusing standoff takes hold – David desperate to escape; the Woodsman denying his container of scrumpy, determined to soaking him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, projecting heavy threat in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Music Video Sensibility
There is only one key story turn, but it leads to a hilariously staged rampage on the forest trails that veers toward rural terror. Director John Minton at last unleashes with his showy imagery: where he was focused intently doing impressionistic closeups of insects in the light in the opening part, he now goes all out with the full psychedelic grand display, soundtracked to a wild organ version 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 emulate Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings et al into making the leap from the Brit music promo scene.
The film is in UK and Irish cinemas from November 17.
