Helmed by Bristol sound co-founder Geoff Barrow, this sharp-edged if slight first film turns a sceptical eye on 90s rave culture. Self-serving drug user David (the actor) initially steals from an unconscious dealer, then in another flashback tries to break into his own parents. In no time, he's overturned in the wreckage of his car in a woodland – and subject to the angry eye of the Poacher (Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with no time for city dwellers, he is broken Britain 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 meticulously detailing David’s attempt to free himself from his safety harness, while clumsily segueing into past scenes of his everyday life. The bigger point – that the ecstasy generation were primarily out for themselves – is clearly conveyed. But these brief episodes are too thin to properly prime us for what to expect when the Poacher arrives, fuming after David kills his dog. Still, a darkly funny duel takes hold – David desperate to escape; the Woodsman withholding his jerrycan of scrumpy, determined to dousing him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, exuding heavy threat in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Music Video Sensibility
Just a single key story turn, but it leads to a comically executed rampage on the forest trails 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. The movie resembles an elongated music video than a fully fledged drama, but there’s enough bold visuals to suggest that Minton could emulate Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into making the leap from the Brit music promo scene.
Game is in British and Irish theaters from November 17.
