Produced by Bristol sound co-founder Geoff Barrow, this scabrous if slight first film turns a sceptical eye on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Self-serving drug user David (Marc Bessant) first robs an unconscious dealer, then in another flashback tries to burgle his own parents. In no time, he's upside down in the wreckage of his car in a woodland – and subject to the wrathful eye of the Woodsman (vocalist Jason Williamson). Refusing to extricate 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.”
Unsteady Opening and Grimly Amusing Confrontation
Game gets off to a shaky start, spending too long on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to free himself from his safety harness, while awkwardly transitioning into past scenes of his everyday life. The central theme – that the ecstasy generation were primarily out for themselves – is firmly made. But these vignettes are too thin to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Woodsman arrives, fuming after David strangles his dog. Nevertheless, a grimly amusing standoff takes hold – David desperate to escape; the Woodsman withholding his jerrycan of scrumpy, determined to soaking him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, exuding ponderous menace in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Promo-Inspired Vibe
Just a single important plot development, but it leads to a hilariously staged rampage on the woodland paths that veers toward folk horror. Filmmaker John Minton at last unleashes with his ostentatious visuals: where he was hunkered down doing impressionistic closeups of bugs in headlights in the opening part, he now goes all out with the full psychedelic 21-gun salute, accompanied by a frenzied keyboard rendition of Ravel’s Boléro. Game feels more like an extended promo than a complete narrative, but there’s enough bold visuals to suggest that Minton could follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings et al into making the leap from the UK video industry.
The film is in British and Irish theaters from 17 November.
