🔗 Share this article Film Analysis: Band Frontman Jason Williamson Takes On Character in Sceptical Examination at Ecstasy Generation Era Helmed by Portishead co-founder Geoff Barrow, this sharp-edged though undernourished first film casts a critical gaze on 90s rave culture. Self-serving drug user David (the actor) first robs an unconscious dealer, then in another flashback tries to burgle his own parents. Before you can say, he's overturned in the remains of his car in a woodland – and subject to the wrathful eye of the Poacher (vocalist Jason Williamson). Refusing to extricate David, with impatience toward city dwellers, he is a fractured society embodied: “You’re one of those loud individuals from up on the heath.” A Shaky Start and Grimly Amusing Confrontation Game gets off to a shaky start, spending too long on meticulously detailing David’s attempt to extricate himself from his safety harness, while awkwardly transitioning into past scenes of his everyday life. The central theme – that the rave-era youth were mainly focused on number one – is firmly made. But these vignettes are too thin to properly prime us for what to expect when the Poacher arrives, enraged after David kills his dog. Still, a darkly funny duel takes hold – David desperate to escape; the Poacher denying his container of scrumpy, determined to soaking him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, exuding ponderous menace in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley. Stylish Imagery and Promo-Inspired Sensibility There is only one key story turn, but it results in a hilariously staged rampage on the woodland paths that dips close to folk horror. Director John Minton at last unleashes with his showy imagery: where he was focused intently doing artful shots of bugs in headlights in the early stages, he now lets rip with the full psychedelic grand display, accompanied by a wild organ version of Ravel’s Boléro. Game feels more like an extended promo than a fully fledged drama, but there’s enough bold visuals to suggest that Minton could follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings et al into making the leap from the Brit music promo scene. Game is in UK and Irish theaters from 17 November.