Produced by Portishead co-founder Geoff Barrow, this sharp-edged though slight debut feature casts a critical gaze on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Self-serving pillhead David (the actor) initially steals from an passed-out supplier, then in another flashback tries to burgle his own family home. Before you can say, he's overturned in the wreckage of his car in a forest – and subject to the angry eye of the Poacher (vocalist Jason Williamson). Refusing to extricate David, with no time for townies, he is a fractured society personified: “You’re one of those loud individuals from up on the heath.”
A Shaky Start and Darkly Funny Confrontation
The film begins uncertainly, lingering excessively on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to extricate himself from his seatbelt, while clumsily segueing into past scenes of his normal activities. The central theme – 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 Poacher turns up, enraged after David kills his dog. Still, a grimly amusing duel takes hold – David eager to get away; the Woodsman denying his container of scrumpy, determined to dousing him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, projecting ponderous menace in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Promo-Inspired Sensibility
Just a single important plot development, but it results in a hilariously staged chaotic run on the woodland paths that veers toward folk horror. Filmmaker John Minton finally gets to go all in with his showy imagery: where he was focused intently doing impressionistic closeups of bugs in headlights in the early stages, he now goes all out with the full lysergic 21-gun salute, accompanied by 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 successfully graduating from the UK video industry.
Game releases in UK and Irish theaters from November 17.
