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Produced by Bristol sound co-founder the musician-producer, this scabrous if undernourished debut feature casts a critical gaze on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Self-serving pillhead David (the actor) first robs an unconscious dealer, then in a later recollection tries to break into his own family home. In no time, he's overturned in the wreckage of his car in a woodland – 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 embodied: “You’re one of those loud individuals from up on the heath.”

Unsteady Opening and Grimly Amusing 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 bigger point – that the ecstasy generation were primarily out for themselves – is clearly conveyed. But these vignettes are too thin to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Woodsman turns up, enraged after David strangles his dog. Nevertheless, a grimly amusing standoff unfolds – David desperate to escape; the Woodsman denying his container of scrumpy, intent on soaking him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, exuding ponderous menace in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.

Visual Flair and Promo-Inspired Sensibility

There is only one important plot development, but it results in a hilariously staged chaotic run on the forest trails that veers toward folk horror. Filmmaker John Minton finally gets to go all in with his showy imagery: where he was focused intently doing artful shots of bugs in headlights in the early stages, he now goes all out with the full psychedelic 21-gun salute, soundtracked to 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 emulate Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings et al into making the leap from the Brit music promo scene.

Game releases in UK and Irish cinemas from 17 November.