Helmed by Bristol sound co-founder the musician-producer, this scabrous though undernourished first film casts a critical gaze on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Venal drug user David (Marc Bessant) first robs an unconscious dealer, then in a later recollection tries to burgle his own family home. In no time, 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 impatience toward city dwellers, he is a fractured society personified: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.”
Unsteady Opening and Grimly Amusing Duel
Game gets off to a shaky start, lingering excessively on meticulously detailing David’s attempt to extricate himself from his seatbelt, while clumsily segueing into flashbacks of his normal activities. The bigger point – that the ecstasy generation were mainly focused on themselves – is firmly made. But these brief episodes are insufficiently developed to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Poacher turns up, fuming after David strangles his dog. Still, a grimly amusing standoff takes hold – David eager to get away; the Poacher withholding his jerrycan of scrumpy, intent on dousing him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, exuding heavy threat in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Promo-Inspired Sensibility
Just a single 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 ostentatious visuals: where he was hunkered down doing impressionistic closeups of insects in the light in the early stages, he now goes all out with the full lysergic grand display, accompanied by a frenzied keyboard rendition of Ravel’s Boléro. Game feels more like an elongated music video than a complete narrative, but there’s enough bold visuals to suggest that Minton could emulate Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into successfully graduating from the UK video industry.
Game releases in UK and Irish theaters from November 17.
