Produced by Bristol sound co-founder Geoff Barrow, this sharp-edged if slight debut feature turns a sceptical eye on 90s rave culture. Self-serving drug user David (the actor) first robs an unconscious dealer, then in a later recollection tries to break into his own parents. In no time, he's upside down in the wreckage of his car in a forest – and subject to the wrathful eye of the Poacher (vocalist Jason Williamson). Refusing to extricate David, with impatience toward city dwellers, he is a fractured society personified: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.”
A Shaky Start and Darkly Funny 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 past scenes of his everyday life. The bigger point – that the ecstasy generation 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 turns up, enraged after David strangles his dog. Nevertheless, a grimly amusing standoff unfolds – David desperate to escape; the Woodsman withholding his jerrycan of cider, determined to dousing him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, exuding ponderous menace in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Promo-Inspired Vibe
Just a single key story turn, but it leads to a comically executed chaotic run on the forest trails that dips close to rural terror. Filmmaker John Minton at last unleashes with his showy imagery: where he was focused intently doing impressionistic closeups of bugs in headlights in the early stages, he now lets rip with the full psychedelic grand display, soundtracked to 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 and others into making the leap from the UK video industry.
Game releases in UK and Irish theaters from November 17.
