The work of Portishead co-founder Geoff Barrow, this scabrous though slight debut feature turns a sceptical eye on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Self-serving drug user 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 upside down in the wreckage 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 noisy cunts 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 extricate himself from his safety harness, while awkwardly transitioning into flashbacks of his everyday life. The central theme – that the ecstasy generation were mainly focused on number one – is clearly conveyed. But these brief episodes are too thin to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Woodsman turns up, fuming after David kills his dog. Nevertheless, a darkly funny duel unfolds – David desperate to escape; the Poacher withholding his jerrycan of cider, determined to dousing him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, exuding heavy threat in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Promo-Inspired Sensibility
Just a single important plot development, but it results in a comically executed chaotic run on the forest trails that veers toward rural terror. 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 lets rip 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 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.
The film releases in British and Irish cinemas from 17 November.
