Produced by Portishead co-founder Geoff Barrow, this sharp-edged if undernourished debut feature casts a critical gaze on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Self-serving pillhead David (Marc Bessant) initially steals from an unconscious dealer, then in another flashback tries to break into his own family home. In no time, 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). Declining to free David, with impatience toward townies, he is a fractured society embodied: “You’re one of those loud individuals from up on the heath.”
A Shaky Start and Darkly Funny Duel
The film begins uncertainly, lingering excessively on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to free himself from his safety harness, while awkwardly transitioning into past scenes of his normal activities. The central theme – that the ecstasy generation were mainly focused on number one – is firmly made. But these vignettes are insufficiently developed to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Woodsman arrives, fuming after David kills his dog. Still, a darkly funny standoff takes hold – David desperate to escape; the Poacher withholding his jerrycan of cider, intent on dousing him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, exuding heavy threat in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Promo-Inspired Sensibility
There is only one key story turn, but it results in a hilariously staged rampage on the forest trails that dips close to folk horror. Director John Minton finally gets to go all in with his ostentatious visuals: 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 lysergic 21-gun salute, accompanied by a frenzied keyboard rendition of Ravel’s Boléro. Game feels more like an elongated music video than a complete narrative, but there’s enough strident imagery to suggest that Minton could follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into successfully graduating from the Brit music promo scene.
Game is in British and Irish cinemas from November 17.
