Produced by Portishead co-founder Geoff Barrow, this scabrous though undernourished debut feature casts a critical gaze on 90s rave culture. Self-serving drug user David (the actor) first robs an passed-out supplier, then in another flashback tries to break into his own parents. In no time, he's upside down in the wreckage of his car in a forest – and subject to the wrathful eye of the Poacher (vocalist Jason Williamson). Refusing to extricate David, with no time for townies, he is broken Britain personified: “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, lingering excessively on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to extricate himself from his seatbelt, while clumsily segueing into past scenes of his normal activities. The bigger point – that the rave-era youth were mainly focused on themselves – is firmly made. But these brief episodes are too thin to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Poacher turns up, fuming after David strangles his dog. Nevertheless, a darkly funny standoff takes hold – David eager to get away; the Poacher withholding his jerrycan of scrumpy, determined to dousing him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, exuding ponderous menace in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Promo-Inspired Vibe
Just a single important plot development, but it results in a hilariously staged rampage on the forest trails that dips close to rural terror. Filmmaker John Minton finally gets to go all in with his ostentatious visuals: where he was hunkered down doing artful shots of bugs in headlights in the early stages, he now lets rip with the full psychedelic 21-gun salute, soundtracked to a wild organ version of Ravel’s Boléro. Game feels more like an elongated music video than a fully fledged drama, but there’s enough strident imagery to suggest that Minton could emulate Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into successfully graduating from the Brit music promo scene.
The film releases in UK and Irish cinemas from 17 November.
