Game Review: Band Frontman Jason Williamson Assumes Character in Sceptical Look at Ecstasy Generation Era
The work of Portishead co-founder Geoff Barrow, this scabrous though undernourished first film turns a sceptical eye on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Self-serving pillhead David (the actor) first robs an unconscious dealer, then in a later recollection tries to burgle his own parents. Before you can say, he's overturned in the wreckage of his car in a woodland – and subject to the wrathful eye of the Woodsman (Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson). Refusing to extricate David, with impatience toward city dwellers, he is broken Britain personified: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.”
A Shaky Start and Darkly Funny Duel
The film begins uncertainly, lingering excessively on meticulously detailing David’s attempt to extricate himself from his safety harness, while clumsily segueing into flashbacks of his normal activities. The bigger point – 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 arrives, fuming after David kills his dog. Nevertheless, a darkly funny duel unfolds – David desperate to escape; the Woodsman withholding his jerrycan of cider, determined to dousing him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, exuding ponderous menace in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.
Stylish Imagery and Music Video Vibe
There is only one key story turn, but it leads to a comically executed chaotic run on the woodland paths that veers toward folk horror. Filmmaker John Minton finally gets to go all in with his showy imagery: where he was hunkered down doing impressionistic closeups of bugs in headlights in the early stages, he now goes all out with the full psychedelic grand display, soundtracked to a wild organ version of Ravel’s Boléro. The movie resembles an extended promo than a fully fledged drama, but there’s enough strident imagery to suggest that Minton could follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings et al into making the leap from the UK video industry.
The film is in British and Irish cinemas from 17 November.
