Produced by Portishead co-founder Geoff Barrow, this sharp-edged though undernourished first film casts a critical gaze on 90s rave culture. Self-serving pillhead David (the actor) initially steals from an passed-out supplier, then in a later recollection tries to break into his own family home. In no time, he's overturned in the remains of his car in a woodland – and subject to the wrathful eye of the Woodsman (Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with no time for city dwellers, he is a fractured society 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 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 primarily out for themselves – is clearly conveyed. But these brief episodes are too thin to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Poacher turns up, enraged after David kills his dog. Nevertheless, a darkly funny duel takes hold – David eager to get away; the Woodsman withholding his jerrycan of scrumpy, determined to soaking him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, projecting heavy threat in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Music Video Sensibility
There is only one key story turn, but it leads to a hilariously staged chaotic run on the woodland paths that veers toward rural terror. Filmmaker John Minton at last unleashes with his ostentatious visuals: where he was hunkered down doing artful shots of bugs in headlights in the early stages, he now lets rip with the full lysergic 21-gun salute, accompanied by 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 et al into making the leap from the UK video industry.
Game is in British and Irish theaters from 17 November.
