Produced by Portishead co-founder the musician-producer, this sharp-edged if undernourished debut feature casts a critical gaze on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Venal drug user David (the actor) initially steals from an unconscious dealer, then in another flashback tries to break into his own parents. Before you can say, he's upside down in the wreckage of his car in a woodland – and subject to the angry eye of the Poacher (Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson). Refusing to extricate David, with no time for city dwellers, he is a fractured society personified: “You’re one of those loud individuals from up on the heath.”
Unsteady Opening and Grimly Amusing Confrontation
The film begins uncertainly, spending too long on meticulously detailing David’s attempt to free himself from his seatbelt, while awkwardly transitioning into past scenes of his everyday life. The bigger point – that the ecstasy generation were primarily out for number one – is clearly conveyed. But these brief episodes are too thin to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Poacher arrives, fuming after David strangles his dog. Nevertheless, a grimly amusing duel unfolds – David desperate to escape; the Woodsman withholding his jerrycan of cider, intent on soaking him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, exuding ponderous menace in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Promo-Inspired Sensibility
There is only one key story turn, but it leads to a hilariously staged rampage on the woodland paths that veers toward folk horror. Filmmaker John Minton at last unleashes with his showy imagery: where he was hunkered down doing artful shots of bugs in headlights in the early stages, he now lets rip with the full psychedelic 21-gun salute, soundtracked to a wild organ version of Ravel’s Boléro. The movie resembles an extended promo than a fully fledged drama, but there’s enough strident imagery to suggest that Minton could follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into making the leap from the Brit music promo scene.
The film is in British and Irish theaters from November 17.
