Produced by Portishead co-founder Geoff Barrow, this sharp-edged if slight debut feature casts a critical gaze on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Self-serving drug user David (Marc Bessant) initially steals from an passed-out supplier, then in a later recollection tries to break into his own parents. In no time, he's upside down in the remains of his car in a woodland – and subject to the angry eye of the Woodsman (Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson). Refusing to extricate David, with no time for city dwellers, 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
Game gets off to a shaky start, lingering excessively on meticulously detailing David’s attempt to extricate himself from his safety harness, while awkwardly transitioning into past scenes of his normal activities. The central theme – that the rave-era youth were mainly focused on themselves – is firmly made. But these vignettes are insufficiently developed to properly prime us for what to expect when the Poacher arrives, enraged after David strangles his dog. Still, a grimly amusing duel takes hold – David desperate to escape; the Poacher denying his container of scrumpy, intent on soaking him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, exuding ponderous menace in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Music Video Sensibility
There is only one key story turn, but it leads to a hilariously staged rampage on the woodland paths that veers toward folk horror. Filmmaker John Minton at last unleashes with his showy imagery: where he was focused intently doing impressionistic closeups of insects in the light 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. Game feels more like an elongated music video than a fully fledged drama, but there’s enough strident imagery to suggest that Minton could emulate Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings et al into making the leap from the Brit music promo scene.
Game releases in British and Irish theaters from November 17.
