Film Analysis: Sleaford Mods' Jason Williamson Takes On Character in Sceptical Examination at Ecstasy Generation Era
Helmed by Bristol sound co-founder Geoff Barrow, this scabrous if slight first film turns a sceptical eye on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Self-serving drug user David (the actor) first robs an passed-out supplier, then in another flashback tries to burgle his own family home. In no time, he's upside down in the wreckage of his car in a forest – and subject to the angry eye of the Poacher (Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with no time for townies, he is a fractured society personified: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.”
A Shaky Start and Grimly Amusing Duel
The film begins uncertainly, lingering excessively on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to free himself from his safety harness, while awkwardly transitioning into flashbacks of his normal activities. The central theme – that the rave-era youth 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 Poacher arrives, enraged after David kills his dog. Still, a darkly funny duel takes hold – David desperate to escape; the Poacher withholding his jerrycan of scrumpy, determined to dousing him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, projecting heavy threat in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Music Video Vibe
Just a single key story turn, but it results in a hilariously staged chaotic run on the forest trails that dips close to rural terror. Director John Minton finally gets to go all in with his showy imagery: where he was hunkered down doing artful shots of insects in the light in the opening part, he now lets rip with the full psychedelic 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 bold visuals to suggest that Minton could follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings et al into successfully graduating from the Brit music promo scene.
The film releases in British and Irish cinemas from November 17.