The work of Bristol sound co-founder the musician-producer, this scabrous though undernourished debut feature turns a sceptical eye on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Self-serving pillhead David (Marc Bessant) first robs an unconscious dealer, then in another flashback tries to break into his own family home. Before you can say, he's overturned in the wreckage of his car in a forest – and subject to the wrathful 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.”
Unsteady Opening and Grimly Amusing Duel
The film begins uncertainly, spending too long on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to extricate himself from his seatbelt, while awkwardly transitioning into flashbacks of his everyday life. The central theme – that the rave-era youth were mainly focused on themselves – is firmly made. But these vignettes are insufficiently developed to properly prime us for what to expect when the Woodsman arrives, fuming after David kills his dog. Still, a darkly funny standoff takes hold – David eager to get away; the Poacher withholding his jerrycan of cider, determined to dousing him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, projecting ponderous menace in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Promo-Inspired Sensibility
Just a single important plot development, but it leads to a hilariously staged rampage on the forest trails that veers toward folk horror. 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 opening part, he now lets rip with the full lysergic grand display, accompanied by a frenzied keyboard rendition of Ravel’s Boléro. The movie resembles an elongated music video than a complete narrative, but there’s enough strident imagery to suggest that Minton could emulate Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into making the leap from the Brit music promo scene.
The film is in British and Irish cinemas from 17 November.
