Helmed by Bristol sound co-founder the musician-producer, this scabrous though slight debut feature turns a sceptical eye on 90s rave culture. Venal drug user David (Marc Bessant) initially steals from an passed-out supplier, then in another flashback tries to burgle his own family home. In no time, he's overturned in the remains of his car in a woodland – and subject to the angry eye of the Poacher (vocalist Jason Williamson). Refusing to extricate David, with no time for city dwellers, he is broken Britain personified: “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 pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to extricate himself from his seatbelt, while clumsily segueing into flashbacks of his everyday life. The bigger point – that the ecstasy generation were primarily out for themselves – is firmly made. But these vignettes are too thin to properly prime us for what to expect when the Woodsman arrives, fuming after David strangles his dog. Nevertheless, a grimly amusing duel unfolds – David eager to get away; the Woodsman withholding his jerrycan of cider, determined to soaking him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, projecting heavy threat in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Promo-Inspired Sensibility
Just a single important plot development, but it leads to a hilariously staged rampage 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 impressionistic closeups of bugs in headlights in the early stages, he now goes all out with the full lysergic grand display, soundtracked to a wild organ version of Ravel’s Boléro. The movie resembles an elongated music video than a fully fledged drama, but there’s enough bold visuals to suggest that Minton could emulate Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into successfully graduating from the UK video industry.
The film releases in British and Irish theaters from 17 November.
