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Helmed by Portishead co-founder Geoff Barrow, this scabrous though undernourished debut feature turns a sceptical eye on 90s rave culture. Venal drug user David (Marc Bessant) first robs an unconscious dealer, then in another flashback 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 wrathful eye of the Poacher (Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson). Refusing to extricate David, with no time for city dwellers, he is broken Britain embodied: “You’re one of those noisy cunts 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 extricate himself from his seatbelt, while clumsily segueing into past scenes of his normal activities. The bigger point – that the rave-era youth were mainly focused on themselves – is clearly conveyed. But these vignettes are insufficiently developed to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Poacher arrives, fuming after David strangles his dog. Nevertheless, a grimly amusing standoff takes hold – David desperate to escape; the Woodsman withholding his jerrycan of cider, intent on dousing him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, projecting heavy threat in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.

Stylish Imagery and Music Video Sensibility

Just a single key story turn, but it leads to a comically executed chaotic run 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 hunkered down doing impressionistic closeups of insects in the light in the early stages, he now goes all out with the full psychedelic grand display, soundtracked to a wild organ version of Ravel’s Boléro. Game feels more like an elongated music video than a complete narrative, but there’s enough bold visuals to suggest that Minton could follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into successfully graduating from the Brit music promo scene.

Game releases in British and Irish cinemas from 17 November.