The work of Bristol sound co-founder the musician-producer, this sharp-edged though undernourished first film casts a critical gaze on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Self-serving drug user David (Marc Bessant) first robs an passed-out supplier, then in another flashback tries to break into his own family home. In no time, he's overturned in the remains of his car in a woodland – and subject to the wrathful eye of the Poacher (Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with impatience toward city dwellers, he is broken Britain embodied: “You’re one of those loud individuals 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 free himself from his safety harness, while clumsily segueing into flashbacks of his normal activities. The bigger point – that the ecstasy generation were mainly focused on themselves – is clearly conveyed. But these brief episodes are too thin to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Poacher arrives, fuming after David kills his dog. Nevertheless, a grimly amusing duel takes hold – David eager to get away; the Poacher denying his container of cider, intent on soaking him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, projecting heavy threat in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Music Video Sensibility
Just a single important plot development, but it results in a hilariously staged rampage on the woodland paths that veers toward rural terror. 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 goes all out with the full lysergic grand display, soundtracked to a wild organ version of Ravel’s Boléro. Game feels more like 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 et al into making the leap from the UK video industry.
The film releases in UK and Irish theaters from 17 November.
