Film Analysis: Sleaford Mods' Jason Williamson Takes On Character in Sceptical Look at 90s Rave Culture
Produced by Portishead co-founder Geoff Barrow, this sharp-edged though undernourished debut feature turns a sceptical eye on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Self-serving pillhead David (the actor) first robs an unconscious dealer, then in another flashback tries to break into his own parents. Before you can say, he's overturned in the wreckage of his car in a woodland – and subject to the wrathful eye of the Poacher (Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson). Refusing to extricate David, with impatience toward townies, he is a fractured society embodied: “You’re one of those loud individuals from up on the heath.”
Unsteady Opening and Grimly Amusing Duel
The film begins uncertainly, lingering excessively on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to free himself from his safety harness, while clumsily segueing into flashbacks of his normal activities. The central theme – that the ecstasy generation were primarily out for themselves – is firmly made. But these vignettes are insufficiently developed to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Poacher turns up, fuming after David kills his dog. Nevertheless, a grimly amusing duel unfolds – David eager to get away; the Woodsman withholding his jerrycan of scrumpy, determined to dousing him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, projecting heavy threat in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Promo-Inspired Vibe
Just a single key story turn, but it results in a hilariously staged chaotic run on the forest trails that veers toward rural terror. Director John Minton finally gets to go all in with his ostentatious visuals: where he was focused intently doing impressionistic closeups of bugs in headlights 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 strident imagery to suggest that Minton could follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings et al into making the leap from the Brit music promo scene.
Game is in British and Irish theaters from 17 November.
