Produced by Portishead co-founder Geoff Barrow, this scabrous if slight debut feature casts a critical gaze on 90s rave culture. Venal drug user David (the actor) initially steals from an passed-out supplier, then in another flashback tries to break into his own family home. In no time, he's upside down 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 no time for townies, he is a fractured society embodied: “You’re one of those loud individuals from up on the heath.”
Unsteady Opening and Darkly Funny Duel
The film begins uncertainly, spending too long on meticulously detailing David’s attempt to extricate himself from his safety harness, while awkwardly transitioning into flashbacks of his everyday life. The central theme – that the rave-era youth were primarily out for number one – is clearly conveyed. But these brief episodes are too thin to properly prime us for what to expect when the Poacher turns up, enraged after David kills his dog. Still, a grimly amusing standoff unfolds – David eager to get away; the Woodsman withholding his jerrycan of scrumpy, determined to soaking him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, exuding ponderous menace in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Music Video Sensibility
There is only one important plot development, but it results in a hilariously staged rampage on the woodland paths that veers toward folk horror. Filmmaker John Minton at last unleashes with his ostentatious visuals: where he was hunkered down doing impressionistic closeups of insects in the light in the opening part, he now goes all out with the full lysergic grand display, soundtracked to 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 et al into making the leap from the UK video industry.
The film is in British and Irish cinemas from November 17.