Helmed by Bristol sound co-founder Geoff Barrow, this sharp-edged though slight first film turns a sceptical eye on 90s rave culture. Venal drug user David (the actor) initially steals from an passed-out supplier, then in a later recollection tries to burgle his own family home. Before you can say, he's overturned in the remains of his car in a woodland – and subject to the wrathful eye of the Woodsman (vocalist Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with no time for townies, he is a fractured society personified: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.”
A Shaky Start and Grimly Amusing Confrontation
The film begins uncertainly, spending too long on meticulously detailing David’s attempt to free himself from his seatbelt, while awkwardly transitioning into flashbacks of his normal activities. The central theme – that the ecstasy generation were mainly focused on number one – is firmly made. But these vignettes are insufficiently developed to properly prime us for what to expect when the Woodsman turns up, fuming after David kills his dog. Still, a grimly amusing standoff takes hold – David desperate to escape; the Woodsman withholding his jerrycan of scrumpy, intent on soaking him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, projecting heavy threat in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Music Video Sensibility
There is only one important plot development, but it results in a hilariously staged chaotic run 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 insects in the light in the opening part, he now lets rip with the full psychedelic 21-gun salute, soundtracked to a frenzied keyboard rendition of Ravel’s Boléro. The movie resembles an elongated music video than a fully fledged drama, but there’s enough strident imagery to suggest that Minton could follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into successfully graduating from the UK video industry.
The film is in British and Irish cinemas from 17 November.
