Helmed by Bristol sound co-founder Geoff Barrow, this sharp-edged if undernourished first film casts a critical gaze on 90s rave culture. Self-serving pillhead David (the actor) 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 angry eye of the Woodsman (vocalist Jason Williamson). Refusing to extricate David, with no time for townies, he is a fractured society embodied: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.”
Unsteady Opening and Darkly Funny Duel
The film begins uncertainly, lingering excessively on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to extricate himself from his safety harness, while clumsily segueing into past scenes of his everyday life. The central theme – that the ecstasy generation were mainly focused on themselves – is clearly conveyed. But these brief episodes are too thin to properly prime us for what to expect when the Woodsman arrives, fuming after David kills his dog. Still, a darkly funny duel unfolds – David desperate to escape; the Poacher withholding his jerrycan of cider, determined to soaking him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, exuding heavy threat in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Music Video Sensibility
Just a single important plot development, but it leads to a hilariously staged rampage on the woodland paths that veers toward rural terror. Director John Minton at last unleashes with his showy imagery: where he was hunkered down doing artful shots of insects in the light in the opening part, he now goes all out with the full lysergic 21-gun salute, accompanied by a frenzied keyboard rendition of Ravel’s Boléro. The movie resembles an extended promo 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.
The film is in UK and Irish theaters from November 17.
