Produced by Bristol sound co-founder Geoff Barrow, this scabrous if undernourished first film casts a critical gaze on 90s rave culture. Venal pillhead David (Marc Bessant) first robs an unconscious dealer, then in a later recollection tries to break into his own parents. Before you can say, he's upside down in the remains 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 no time for city dwellers, he is broken Britain embodied: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.”
A Shaky Start and Darkly Funny Duel
The film begins uncertainly, spending too long on meticulously detailing David’s attempt to extricate himself from his seatbelt, while clumsily segueing into past scenes of his everyday life. The bigger point – that the ecstasy generation 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 Woodsman turns up, enraged after David kills his dog. Nevertheless, a grimly amusing duel takes hold – David desperate to escape; the Poacher denying his container of scrumpy, determined to dousing him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, exuding heavy threat in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Music Video Vibe
Just a single key story turn, but it results in a comically executed chaotic run 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 focused intently doing impressionistic closeups of bugs in headlights in the opening part, he now goes all out with the full psychedelic 21-gun salute, accompanied by a wild organ version of Ravel’s Boléro. The movie resembles an extended promo than a fully fledged drama, 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 releases in UK and Irish theaters from November 17.
