The work of Bristol sound 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 overturned in the remains of his car in a forest – and subject to the angry eye of the Poacher (vocalist Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with impatience toward city dwellers, he is a fractured society embodied: “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 flashbacks of his normal activities. The bigger point – that the rave-era youth were primarily out for themselves – is firmly made. But these brief episodes are insufficiently developed to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Poacher turns up, enraged after David strangles his dog. Still, a grimly amusing standoff unfolds – David desperate to escape; the Woodsman denying his container of cider, determined to dousing him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, exuding ponderous menace in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Music Video Vibe
Just a single key story turn, but it leads to a hilariously staged rampage on the woodland paths that veers toward rural terror. Filmmaker John Minton at last unleashes with his showy imagery: where he was hunkered down doing impressionistic closeups of bugs in headlights in the opening part, he now goes all out with the full lysergic 21-gun salute, soundtracked to a frenzied keyboard rendition 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 and others into making the leap from the UK video industry.
Game is in UK and Irish cinemas from November 17.
