Produced by Portishead co-founder the musician-producer, this sharp-edged if undernourished debut feature turns a sceptical eye on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Venal drug user David (Marc Bessant) initially steals from an passed-out supplier, then in a later recollection tries to burgle his own family home. In no time, he's overturned in the wreckage of his car in a forest – and subject to the wrathful eye of the Poacher (Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson). Refusing to extricate David, with impatience toward city dwellers, he is a fractured society embodied: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.”
Unsteady Opening and Darkly Funny Confrontation
Game gets off to a shaky start, spending too long on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to free himself from his safety harness, while clumsily segueing into past scenes of his normal activities. The bigger point – that the ecstasy generation were primarily out for themselves – is firmly made. But these vignettes are too thin to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Poacher turns up, enraged after David strangles his dog. Nevertheless, a darkly funny standoff unfolds – David desperate to escape; the Poacher denying his container of cider, determined to soaking him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, projecting ponderous menace in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Music Video Sensibility
Just a single important plot development, but it leads to a comically executed chaotic run on the forest trails that dips close to rural terror. Filmmaker 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 lysergic grand display, soundtracked to a frenzied keyboard rendition of Ravel’s Boléro. Game feels more like an extended promo than a complete narrative, but there’s enough strident imagery to suggest that Minton could follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings et al into making the leap from the Brit music promo scene.
The film is in British and Irish theaters from November 17.
