Produced by Bristol sound co-founder the musician-producer, this scabrous though undernourished first film turns a sceptical eye on 90s rave culture. Venal pillhead David (Marc Bessant) initially steals from an passed-out supplier, then in a later recollection tries to burgle his own family home. 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 (Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with no time for townies, he is broken Britain 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 meticulously detailing David’s attempt to extricate himself from his seatbelt, while clumsily segueing into past scenes of his everyday life. The central theme – that the rave-era youth were mainly focused on number one – is firmly made. But these vignettes are too thin to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Woodsman arrives, enraged after David kills his dog. Nevertheless, a grimly amusing duel takes hold – David desperate to escape; the Woodsman denying his container of scrumpy, intent on dousing him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, projecting ponderous menace in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Music Video Sensibility
Just a single important plot development, but it leads to a comically executed chaotic run on the forest trails that veers toward rural terror. Director 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 lets rip with the full lysergic 21-gun salute, accompanied by 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 follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into making the leap from the Brit music promo scene.
Game releases in British and Irish cinemas from November 17.
