🔗 Share this article Film Analysis: Band Frontman Jason Williamson Takes On Character in Sceptical Look at 90s Rave Culture Produced by Bristol sound co-founder Geoff Barrow, this scabrous if undernourished first film casts a critical gaze on 90s rave culture. Self-serving drug user David (Marc Bessant) first robs an passed-out supplier, then in a later recollection tries to burgle his own family home. In no time, he's upside down in the wreckage of his car in a woodland – and subject to the wrathful eye of the Poacher (Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with impatience toward city dwellers, he is broken Britain personified: “You’re one of those loud individuals from up on the heath.” A Shaky Start and Darkly Funny Confrontation The film begins uncertainly, lingering excessively on meticulously detailing David’s attempt to extricate himself from his seatbelt, while clumsily segueing into flashbacks of his everyday life. The central theme – that the ecstasy generation were mainly focused on themselves – is clearly conveyed. But these brief episodes are insufficiently developed to properly prime us for what to expect when the Poacher arrives, enraged after David strangles his dog. Nevertheless, a darkly funny standoff unfolds – David eager to get away; the Poacher denying his container of cider, intent on soaking him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, exuding heavy threat in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley. Visual Flair and Music Video Vibe Just a single important plot development, but it leads to a comically executed rampage on the woodland paths that dips close to 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 lets rip with the full psychedelic 21-gun salute, soundtracked to a frenzied keyboard rendition of Ravel’s Boléro. Game feels more like an elongated music video than a complete narrative, but there’s enough strident imagery to suggest that Minton could emulate Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into making the leap from the Brit music promo scene. The film is in UK and Irish theaters from November 17.