Produced by Bristol sound co-founder Geoff Barrow, this scabrous though undernourished debut feature turns a sceptical eye on 90s rave culture. Self-serving drug user David (Marc Bessant) first robs an unconscious dealer, then in a later recollection tries to burgle his own parents. Before you can say, he's overturned in the remains of his car in a woodland – and subject to the angry 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 loud individuals from up on the heath.”
Unsteady Opening and Darkly Funny Duel
The film begins uncertainly, spending too long on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to free himself from his seatbelt, while clumsily segueing into flashbacks of his everyday life. The central theme – that the rave-era youth were mainly focused on themselves – is firmly made. But these brief episodes are insufficiently developed to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Poacher arrives, enraged after David kills his dog. Still, a darkly funny standoff takes hold – David eager to get away; the Poacher withholding his jerrycan of cider, determined to soaking him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, projecting ponderous menace in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Music Video Vibe
Just a single key story turn, but it leads to a comically executed chaotic run on the forest trails that veers toward folk horror. Director John Minton at last unleashes 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 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 strident imagery to suggest that Minton could follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings et al into making the leap from the Brit music promo scene.
Game is in British and Irish theaters from 17 November.
