Produced by Portishead co-founder Geoff Barrow, this sharp-edged if undernourished debut feature casts a critical gaze on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Venal drug user David (Marc Bessant) first robs an passed-out supplier, then in another flashback tries to break into his own family home. Before you can say, he's upside down in the remains of his car in a forest – and subject to the angry eye of the Woodsman (vocalist Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with no time for city dwellers, he is broken Britain embodied: “You’re one of those loud individuals from up on the heath.”
Unsteady Opening and Grimly Amusing Confrontation
The film begins uncertainly, lingering excessively on meticulously detailing 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 primarily out for themselves – is firmly made. But these brief episodes are insufficiently developed to properly prime us for what to expect when the Woodsman turns up, fuming after David kills his dog. Still, a darkly funny duel unfolds – David eager to get away; the Woodsman withholding his jerrycan of cider, intent on soaking him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, exuding heavy threat in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Promo-Inspired Vibe
There is only one key story turn, but it leads to a hilariously staged chaotic run on the forest trails that veers toward rural terror. Filmmaker John Minton finally gets to go all in with his showy imagery: where he was hunkered down doing artful shots of bugs in headlights in the opening part, he now lets rip with the full lysergic grand display, accompanied by a frenzied keyboard rendition of Ravel’s Boléro. The movie resembles an elongated music video than a complete narrative, but there’s enough strident imagery to suggest that Minton could follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings et al into successfully graduating from the Brit music promo scene.
Game releases in UK and Irish theaters from November 17.
