Helmed by Portishead co-founder Geoff Barrow, this scabrous if slight first film casts a critical gaze on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Self-serving pillhead David (the actor) first robs an passed-out supplier, then in a later recollection tries to break into his own parents. Before you can say, he's overturned in the remains of his car in a woodland – and subject to the angry eye of the Poacher (vocalist Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with impatience toward city dwellers, he is a fractured society personified: “You’re one of those loud individuals from up on the heath.”
A Shaky Start and Darkly Funny Duel
Game gets off to a shaky start, lingering excessively on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to free himself from his safety harness, while awkwardly transitioning into flashbacks of his normal activities. The central theme – that the rave-era youth 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 Poacher arrives, enraged after David kills his dog. Still, a grimly amusing standoff unfolds – David eager to get away; the Poacher withholding his jerrycan of cider, determined to soaking him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, exuding ponderous menace in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Music Video Sensibility
There is only one key story turn, but it leads to a comically executed chaotic run on the forest trails that dips close to folk horror. Director John Minton at last unleashes with his showy imagery: where he was focused intently doing artful shots of bugs in headlights in the early stages, he now lets rip with the full psychedelic grand display, accompanied by 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 Brit music promo scene.
Game releases in UK and Irish cinemas from 17 November.
