Produced by Portishead co-founder Geoff Barrow, this sharp-edged though undernourished debut feature casts a critical gaze on 90s rave culture. Self-serving drug user David (Marc Bessant) initially steals from an passed-out supplier, then in a later recollection tries to break into his own parents. Before you can say, he's upside down 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 impatience toward city dwellers, he is broken Britain embodied: “You’re one of those loud individuals from up on the heath.”
Unsteady Opening and Darkly Funny Confrontation
The film begins uncertainly, spending too long on meticulously detailing David’s attempt to free himself from his safety harness, while clumsily segueing into flashbacks of his everyday life. The central theme – that the rave-era youth were mainly focused on number one – is firmly made. But these brief episodes are insufficiently developed to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Woodsman arrives, fuming after David strangles his dog. Nevertheless, a grimly amusing standoff unfolds – David desperate to escape; the Poacher withholding his jerrycan of scrumpy, intent on dousing him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, exuding heavy threat in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Music Video Sensibility
Just a single important plot development, but it results in a hilariously staged rampage on the forest trails that dips close to folk horror. 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 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 successfully graduating from the Brit music promo scene.
The film is in UK and Irish theaters from November 17.
