Produced by Bristol sound co-founder the musician-producer, this sharp-edged if undernourished debut feature casts a critical gaze on 90s rave culture. Self-serving drug user David (Marc Bessant) first robs an passed-out supplier, then in a later recollection tries to burgle his own parents. In no time, he's overturned in the wreckage of his car in a forest – and subject to the angry eye of the Woodsman (Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with impatience toward townies, he is a fractured society personified: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.”
Unsteady Opening and Grimly Amusing Duel
The film begins uncertainly, spending too long on meticulously detailing David’s attempt to free himself from his safety harness, while awkwardly transitioning into flashbacks of his normal activities. The central theme – that the rave-era youth were mainly focused on number one – is firmly made. But these brief episodes are insufficiently developed to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Woodsman arrives, enraged after David kills his dog. Nevertheless, a grimly amusing standoff unfolds – David eager to get away; the Poacher denying his container of cider, determined to dousing him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, exuding heavy threat in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Promo-Inspired Sensibility
There is only one key story turn, but it results in a comically executed chaotic run on the forest trails that dips close to rural terror. Director 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 opening part, he now lets rip with the full lysergic grand display, soundtracked to a wild organ version of Ravel’s Boléro. The movie resembles an extended promo than a complete narrative, but there’s enough strident imagery to suggest that Minton could emulate Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into making the leap from the UK video industry.
The film releases in UK and Irish cinemas from November 17.
