Produced by Portishead co-founder the musician-producer, this scabrous though undernourished first film turns a sceptical eye on 90s rave culture. Venal drug user David (Marc Bessant) first robs an passed-out supplier, then in another flashback tries to burgle his own family home. In no time, he's upside down in the remains 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
Game gets off to a shaky start, spending too long on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to free himself from his safety harness, while clumsily segueing into flashbacks of his normal activities. The central theme – that the ecstasy generation were mainly focused on themselves – is firmly made. But these vignettes are insufficiently developed to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Woodsman turns up, enraged after David kills his dog. Nevertheless, a darkly funny duel takes hold – David eager to get away; the Poacher withholding his jerrycan of scrumpy, determined to soaking him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, exuding ponderous menace in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Music Video Vibe
There is only one important plot development, but it results in a hilariously staged rampage on the forest trails that veers toward folk horror. Director John Minton finally gets to go all in with his ostentatious visuals: where he was hunkered down doing artful shots of bugs in headlights in the opening part, he now lets rip with the full lysergic grand display, accompanied by 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 follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings et al into successfully graduating from the UK video industry.
The film releases in UK and Irish cinemas from 17 November.
