Produced by Bristol sound co-founder Geoff Barrow, this scabrous if undernourished debut feature casts a critical gaze on 90s rave culture. Venal pillhead David (Marc Bessant) first robs an unconscious dealer, then in a later recollection tries to burgle his own family home. Before you can say, he's overturned in the wreckage of his car in a forest – and subject to the wrathful eye of the Woodsman (vocalist Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with no time for townies, he is a fractured society personified: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.”
A Shaky Start and Grimly Amusing Confrontation
The film begins uncertainly, lingering excessively on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to extricate himself from his seatbelt, while clumsily segueing into flashbacks of his everyday life. 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 Woodsman arrives, fuming after David strangles his dog. Nevertheless, a grimly amusing standoff unfolds – David eager to get away; the Woodsman withholding his jerrycan of cider, determined to dousing him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, projecting ponderous menace in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Music Video Sensibility
Just a single important plot development, but it leads to a comically executed rampage on the forest trails that veers toward folk horror. Filmmaker John Minton finally gets to go all in with his ostentatious visuals: where he was hunkered down doing impressionistic closeups of insects in the light in the early stages, he now lets rip with the full psychedelic grand display, accompanied by a wild organ version of Ravel’s Boléro. Game feels more like an extended promo than a complete narrative, but there’s enough bold visuals to suggest that Minton could follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into successfully graduating from the UK video industry.
Game is in British and Irish theaters from November 17.
