Produced by Portishead co-founder the musician-producer, this scabrous though slight debut feature casts a critical gaze on 90s rave culture. Venal 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 upside down in the wreckage of his car in a woodland – and subject to the wrathful eye of the Poacher (Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with no time for city dwellers, he is broken Britain embodied: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.”
Unsteady Opening and Darkly Funny Duel
The film begins uncertainly, lingering excessively on meticulously detailing David’s attempt to extricate himself from his safety harness, while awkwardly transitioning into flashbacks of his normal activities. The central theme – that the ecstasy generation were primarily out for number one – is clearly conveyed. But these vignettes are too thin to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Woodsman arrives, enraged after David strangles his dog. Still, a grimly amusing duel unfolds – David desperate to escape; the Woodsman withholding his jerrycan of scrumpy, intent on dousing him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, exuding ponderous menace in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Music Video Sensibility
There is only one key story turn, but it results in a comically executed chaotic run on the woodland paths that dips close to rural terror. Filmmaker John Minton at last unleashes 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. The movie resembles an extended promo than a fully fledged drama, 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 UK and Irish theaters from November 17.
