Helmed by Portishead co-founder the musician-producer, this sharp-edged if undernourished first film casts a critical gaze on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Self-serving pillhead David (Marc Bessant) initially steals from an passed-out supplier, then in another flashback tries to break into his own parents. Before you can say, he's upside down in the wreckage of his car in a woodland – and subject to the wrathful eye of the Woodsman (vocalist Jason Williamson). Declining to free 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 Grimly Amusing Duel
The film begins uncertainly, spending too long on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to free himself from his safety harness, while awkwardly transitioning into flashbacks of his normal activities. The central theme – that the rave-era youth were mainly focused on number one – is firmly made. But these vignettes are insufficiently developed to properly prime us for what to expect when the Woodsman arrives, enraged after David strangles his dog. Nevertheless, a grimly amusing standoff takes hold – David eager to get away; the Woodsman withholding his jerrycan of scrumpy, determined to dousing him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, projecting heavy threat 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 comically executed chaotic run on the forest trails that veers toward folk horror. Director John Minton finally gets to go all in with his showy imagery: where he was hunkered down doing impressionistic closeups of bugs in headlights in the early stages, he now lets rip with the full psychedelic grand display, soundtracked to a wild organ version of Ravel’s Boléro. Game feels more like an elongated music video than a complete narrative, but there’s enough bold visuals to suggest that Minton could emulate Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings et al into successfully graduating from the Brit music promo scene.
The film is in British and Irish cinemas from 17 November.
