Produced by Portishead co-founder the musician-producer, this sharp-edged though slight first film turns a sceptical eye on 90s rave culture. Self-serving pillhead David (the actor) first robs an passed-out supplier, then in another flashback tries to break into his own family home. Before you can say, he's upside down in the wreckage of his car in a forest – and subject to the angry eye of the Woodsman (vocalist Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with impatience toward city dwellers, he is a fractured society embodied: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.”
Unsteady Opening and Darkly Funny Confrontation
The film begins uncertainly, spending too long on meticulously detailing David’s attempt to extricate himself from his seatbelt, while awkwardly transitioning into flashbacks of his everyday life. The central theme – that the ecstasy generation were primarily out for themselves – is firmly made. But these vignettes are too thin to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Woodsman turns up, enraged after David strangles his dog. Nevertheless, a darkly funny standoff takes hold – David desperate to escape; the Poacher denying his container of cider, determined to soaking him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, projecting heavy threat in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Music Video Vibe
There is only one key story turn, but it results in a comically executed rampage on the woodland paths that dips close to folk horror. Filmmaker John Minton at last unleashes with his showy imagery: where he was hunkered down doing impressionistic closeups of bugs in headlights in the early stages, he now lets rip with the full psychedelic 21-gun salute, accompanied by a frenzied keyboard rendition 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 follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into making the leap from the Brit music promo scene.
The film is in UK and Irish cinemas from 17 November.
