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Helmed by Bristol sound co-founder Geoff Barrow, this sharp-edged if undernourished first film casts a critical gaze on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Self-serving pillhead David (the actor) initially steals from an unconscious dealer, then in a later recollection tries to break into his own parents. In no time, he's overturned in the remains of his car in a forest – and subject to the angry eye of the Woodsman (vocalist Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with impatience toward townies, he is broken Britain personified: “You’re one of those loud individuals from up on the heath.”

A Shaky Start and Grimly Amusing Duel

Game gets off to a shaky start, 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 bigger point – that the rave-era youth were mainly focused on themselves – is firmly made. But these brief episodes are insufficiently developed to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Woodsman turns up, enraged after David kills his dog. Nevertheless, a grimly amusing standoff unfolds – David desperate to escape; the Poacher withholding his jerrycan of cider, intent on dousing him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, projecting ponderous menace in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.

Visual Flair and Music Video Sensibility

Just a single key story turn, but it results in a comically executed rampage on the woodland paths that veers toward rural terror. Filmmaker John Minton at last unleashes 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 lysergic 21-gun salute, accompanied by a frenzied keyboard rendition 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 releases in UK and Irish theaters from 17 November.