Produced by Bristol sound co-founder the musician-producer, this sharp-edged if slight first film turns a sceptical eye on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Venal 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 wreckage of his car in a forest – and subject to the angry eye of the Poacher (Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with impatience toward townies, he is broken Britain embodied: “You’re one of those loud individuals from up on the heath.”
Unsteady Opening and Darkly Funny 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 everyday life. The bigger point – that the rave-era youth were primarily out for number one – is clearly conveyed. 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. Still, a darkly funny standoff unfolds – David eager to get away; the Woodsman withholding his jerrycan of scrumpy, determined to soaking him instead in embittered discourse. 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 leads to a comically executed rampage on the woodland paths that dips close to rural terror. Director John Minton at last unleashes with his ostentatious visuals: where he was focused intently doing artful shots of bugs in headlights in the opening part, he now lets rip with the full psychedelic grand display, accompanied by a frenzied keyboard rendition of Ravel’s Boléro. The movie resembles 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 UK video industry.
Game releases in UK and Irish theaters from November 17.
