Game Review: Band Frontman Jason Williamson Assumes Role in Sceptical Look at Ecstasy Generation Era

Produced by Bristol sound co-founder Geoff Barrow, this scabrous though undernourished first film casts a critical gaze on 90s rave culture. Self-serving pillhead David (Marc Bessant) first robs an passed-out supplier, then in a later recollection tries to burgle his own family home. Before you can say, he's overturned in the wreckage of his car in a woodland – and subject to the angry eye of the Poacher (Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with impatience toward townies, he is a fractured society embodied: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.”

A Shaky Start and Grimly Amusing Duel

The film begins uncertainly, spending too long on meticulously detailing David’s attempt to extricate himself from his seatbelt, while awkwardly transitioning into flashbacks of his everyday life. The central theme – that the ecstasy generation were primarily out for themselves – is clearly conveyed. 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 grimly amusing duel takes hold – David eager to get away; the Poacher withholding his jerrycan of scrumpy, intent on dousing him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, projecting heavy threat in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.

Stylish Imagery and Music Video Vibe

Just a single important plot development, but it leads to a comically executed rampage on the woodland paths that dips close to folk horror. Director John Minton at last unleashes with his showy imagery: where he was focused intently doing impressionistic closeups of bugs in headlights in the early stages, he now goes all out with the full lysergic grand display, accompanied by a wild organ version of Ravel’s Boléro. Game feels more like an extended promo than a fully fledged drama, but there’s enough bold visuals to suggest that Minton could follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into successfully graduating from the UK video industry.

The film releases in British and Irish theaters from November 17.

Steven Gilbert DVM
Steven Gilbert DVM

Urban mobility enthusiast with years of experience testing electric scooters and bikes in Amsterdam.