The work of Portishead co-founder the musician-producer, this scabrous if undernourished debut feature turns a sceptical eye on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Self-serving drug user David (Marc Bessant) first robs an unconscious dealer, then in a later recollection tries to break into his own parents. Before you can say, he's upside down in the wreckage of his car in a forest – and subject to the wrathful eye of the Woodsman (Sleaford Mods frontman 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.”
A Shaky Start and Grimly Amusing Duel
The film begins uncertainly, spending too long on meticulously detailing David’s attempt to extricate himself from his safety harness, while awkwardly transitioning into past scenes of his normal activities. The bigger point – that the rave-era youth were mainly focused on number one – is clearly conveyed. But these brief episodes are insufficiently developed to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Poacher arrives, enraged after David strangles his dog. Still, a grimly amusing standoff unfolds – David eager to get away; the Woodsman withholding his jerrycan of scrumpy, determined to dousing him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, exuding ponderous menace in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Promo-Inspired Sensibility
There is only one important plot development, but it results in a hilariously staged rampage on the forest trails that dips close to folk horror. Director John Minton finally gets to go all in with his ostentatious visuals: where he was hunkered down doing artful shots of insects in the light in the opening part, he now goes all out with the full psychedelic 21-gun salute, soundtracked to a wild organ version of Ravel’s Boléro. The movie resembles an elongated music video than a fully fledged drama, 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 releases in British and Irish theaters from 17 November.
