Helmed by Bristol sound co-founder the musician-producer, this sharp-edged though slight first film turns a sceptical eye on 90s rave culture. Venal drug user David (Marc Bessant) first robs an passed-out supplier, then in another flashback tries to break into 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). Refusing to extricate David, with no time for city dwellers, he is a fractured society embodied: “You’re one of those loud individuals from up on the heath.”
Unsteady Opening and Darkly Funny Confrontation
Game gets off to a shaky start, lingering excessively on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to free himself from his seatbelt, while clumsily segueing into flashbacks of his everyday life. The bigger point – that the ecstasy generation were mainly focused on number one – is firmly made. But these brief episodes are too thin to properly prime us for what to expect when the Woodsman arrives, fuming after David kills his dog. Nevertheless, a grimly amusing standoff takes hold – David eager to get away; 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.
Stylish Imagery and Promo-Inspired Sensibility
There is only one key story turn, but it results in a hilariously staged chaotic run on the forest trails that dips close to rural terror. Filmmaker 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 21-gun salute, 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 et al into making the leap from the Brit music promo scene.
Game releases in UK and Irish theaters from November 17.
