Helmed by Bristol sound co-founder the musician-producer, this sharp-edged if slight debut feature casts a critical gaze on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Venal pillhead David (Marc Bessant) first robs an unconscious dealer, then in a later recollection tries to burgle his own family home. Before you can say, he's upside down in the wreckage of his car in a woodland – and subject to the angry eye of the Poacher (vocalist Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with impatience toward city dwellers, he is broken Britain embodied: “You’re one of those loud individuals from up on the heath.”
A Shaky Start and Darkly Funny Duel
Game gets off to a shaky start, lingering excessively on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to extricate himself from his safety harness, while clumsily segueing into flashbacks of his normal activities. The bigger point – that the ecstasy generation were mainly focused on themselves – is firmly made. But these vignettes are too thin to properly prime us for what to expect when the Woodsman turns up, fuming after David strangles his dog. Still, a grimly amusing standoff takes hold – David desperate to escape; the Poacher denying his container of cider, intent on soaking him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, exuding ponderous menace in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Music Video Vibe
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 finally gets to go all in with his ostentatious visuals: where he was focused intently doing impressionistic closeups of insects in the light in the opening part, he now goes all out with the full lysergic grand display, soundtracked to a frenzied keyboard rendition of Ravel’s Boléro. Game feels more like 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.
The film is in British and Irish cinemas from 17 November.
