Produced by Bristol sound co-founder the musician-producer, this scabrous if slight debut feature casts a critical gaze on 90s rave culture. Venal pillhead David (the actor) initially steals from an unconscious dealer, then in a later recollection tries to burgle his own family home. In no time, he's upside down 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 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 pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to free himself from his safety harness, while awkwardly transitioning into flashbacks of his everyday life. The bigger point – that the ecstasy generation were mainly focused on number one – is clearly conveyed. But these brief episodes are insufficiently developed to properly prime us for what to expect when the Woodsman turns up, fuming after David kills his dog. Nevertheless, a darkly funny duel unfolds – David desperate to escape; the Woodsman denying his container of scrumpy, determined to dousing him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, projecting ponderous menace in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Promo-Inspired Sensibility
Just a single important plot development, but it results in a comically executed rampage on the woodland paths that veers toward folk horror. Director John Minton finally gets to go all in with his ostentatious visuals: where he was focused intently doing artful shots of insects in the light in the opening part, he now lets rip with the full psychedelic grand display, soundtracked to a frenzied keyboard rendition of Ravel’s Boléro. The movie resembles an elongated music video than a complete narrative, but there’s enough strident imagery to suggest that Minton could follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into successfully graduating from the Brit music promo scene.
The film releases in British and Irish theaters from 17 November.
