Produced by Portishead co-founder the musician-producer, this scabrous if undernourished debut feature casts a critical gaze on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Venal drug user David (the actor) first robs an unconscious dealer, then in another flashback tries to break into his own parents. Before you can say, he's overturned 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 impatience toward city dwellers, he is broken Britain embodied: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.”
Unsteady Opening and Darkly Funny Confrontation
The film begins uncertainly, spending too long on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to extricate himself from his seatbelt, while awkwardly transitioning into past scenes of his everyday life. The bigger point – that the rave-era youth were primarily out for themselves – is firmly made. But these vignettes are insufficiently developed to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Woodsman arrives, enraged after David strangles his dog. Nevertheless, a darkly funny duel takes hold – David desperate to escape; the Woodsman withholding his jerrycan of cider, intent on soaking him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, projecting ponderous menace in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Promo-Inspired Sensibility
Just a single important plot development, but it leads to 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 focused intently doing impressionistic closeups of bugs in headlights in the opening part, he now lets rip with the full lysergic 21-gun salute, accompanied by a wild organ version of Ravel’s Boléro. The movie resembles an elongated music video than a complete narrative, but there’s enough bold visuals to suggest that Minton could emulate Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings et al into successfully graduating from the UK video industry.
The film is in British and Irish cinemas from 17 November.
