Produced by Bristol sound co-founder Geoff Barrow, this scabrous if slight first film casts a critical gaze on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Self-serving pillhead David (Marc Bessant) 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 remains of his car in a woodland – and subject to the angry eye of the Poacher (vocalist Jason Williamson). Refusing to extricate David, with no time for townies, he is broken Britain embodied: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.”
A Shaky Start and Grimly Amusing Confrontation
Game gets off to a shaky start, spending too long on meticulously detailing David’s attempt to free himself from his seatbelt, while clumsily segueing into flashbacks of his normal activities. The bigger point – that the rave-era youth were primarily out for themselves – is firmly made. But these vignettes are too thin to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Poacher arrives, enraged after David kills his dog. Still, a grimly amusing duel takes hold – David eager to get away; the Woodsman denying his container of scrumpy, determined to dousing him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, projecting ponderous menace in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Promo-Inspired Sensibility
There is only one key story turn, but it results in a comically executed chaotic run on the forest trails that veers toward folk horror. Filmmaker John Minton at last unleashes with his showy imagery: where he was hunkered down doing artful shots of bugs in headlights in the early stages, he now lets rip with the full lysergic grand display, soundtracked to a wild organ version of Ravel’s Boléro. Game feels more like an extended promo than a complete narrative, but there’s enough strident imagery to suggest that Minton could emulate Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into successfully graduating from the UK video industry.
Game releases in British and Irish theaters from 17 November.
