Produced by Portishead co-founder the musician-producer, this scabrous if slight first film casts a critical gaze on 90s rave culture. Venal drug user David (Marc Bessant) first robs an unconscious dealer, then in another flashback tries to burgle his own family home. Before you can say, he's upside down in the wreckage of his car in a forest – 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 a fractured society embodied: “You’re one of those loud individuals from up on the heath.”
A Shaky Start 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 awkwardly transitioning into flashbacks of his normal activities. The central theme – that the rave-era youth were mainly focused on themselves – is clearly conveyed. But these vignettes are insufficiently developed to properly prime us for what to expect when the Poacher turns up, fuming after David strangles his dog. Nevertheless, a darkly funny standoff unfolds – David eager to get away; the Poacher denying his container of scrumpy, intent on soaking him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, exuding ponderous menace in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Promo-Inspired Sensibility
Just a single key story turn, but it results in a hilariously staged chaotic run on the woodland paths that veers toward folk horror. Director John Minton at last unleashes with his showy imagery: where he was hunkered down doing artful shots of insects in the light in the opening part, he now lets rip with the full lysergic 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 bold visuals to suggest that Minton could follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into successfully graduating from the UK video industry.
Game is in British and Irish cinemas from November 17.
