Produced by Bristol sound co-founder the musician-producer, this sharp-edged though slight debut feature turns a sceptical eye on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Venal pillhead David (Marc Bessant) first robs an passed-out supplier, then in another flashback tries to break into his own family home. In no time, he's overturned in the wreckage of his car in a woodland – and subject to the angry eye of the Poacher (vocalist Jason Williamson). Refusing to extricate David, with impatience toward city dwellers, he is a fractured society personified: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.”
A Shaky Start and Grimly Amusing Duel
Game gets off to a shaky start, lingering excessively on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to extricate himself from his safety harness, while awkwardly transitioning into flashbacks of his normal activities. The bigger point – that the rave-era youth were mainly focused on themselves – is firmly made. But these vignettes are insufficiently developed to properly prime us for what to expect when the Woodsman turns up, fuming after David strangles his dog. Nevertheless, a darkly funny duel unfolds – David desperate to escape; the Poacher withholding his jerrycan of scrumpy, determined to soaking him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, exuding ponderous menace in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Music Video Sensibility
Just a single important plot development, but it leads to a comically executed 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 bugs in headlights in the opening part, he now lets rip with the full psychedelic 21-gun salute, soundtracked to a wild organ version 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 emulate 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.
