The work of Portishead co-founder the musician-producer, this sharp-edged if slight first film turns a sceptical eye on 90s rave culture. Self-serving pillhead David (the actor) first robs an unconscious dealer, then in a later recollection tries to burgle his own family home. In no time, he's overturned in the remains of his car in a forest – and subject to the angry eye of the Poacher (Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson). Refusing to extricate David, with impatience toward city dwellers, he is broken Britain embodied: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.”
A Shaky Start and Darkly Funny Confrontation
Game gets off to a shaky start, spending too long on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to extricate himself from his seatbelt, while awkwardly transitioning into past scenes of his everyday life. The bigger point – that the rave-era youth were primarily out for themselves – is firmly made. But these brief episodes are too thin to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Woodsman arrives, enraged after David kills his dog. Still, a darkly funny standoff unfolds – David eager to get away; the Woodsman withholding his jerrycan of scrumpy, intent on soaking him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, exuding ponderous menace in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Promo-Inspired Sensibility
Just a single key story turn, but it leads to a hilariously staged chaotic run on the forest trails that dips close to 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 early stages, he now goes all out with the full lysergic grand display, soundtracked to a wild organ version of Ravel’s Boléro. Game feels more like an extended promo than a fully fledged drama, but there’s enough strident imagery to suggest that Minton could follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings et al into successfully graduating from the UK video industry.
The film is in UK and Irish cinemas from November 17.
