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Helmed by Portishead co-founder Geoff Barrow, this scabrous if undernourished debut feature casts a critical gaze on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Venal pillhead David (the actor) initially steals from an passed-out supplier, then in another flashback tries to break into his own parents. Before you can say, he's overturned in the wreckage of his car in a forest – and subject to the wrathful eye of the Woodsman (Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with no time for city dwellers, he is broken Britain personified: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.”

Unsteady Opening 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 clumsily segueing into past scenes of his everyday life. The bigger point – that the ecstasy generation were primarily out for themselves – is firmly made. But these brief episodes are too thin to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Poacher arrives, fuming after David kills his dog. Nevertheless, a darkly funny standoff takes hold – David desperate to escape; the Poacher denying his container of cider, intent on soaking him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, projecting 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 results in a hilariously staged chaotic run on the woodland paths that veers toward rural terror. Filmmaker John Minton at last unleashes with his ostentatious visuals: where he was hunkered down doing artful shots of bugs in headlights in the early stages, he now goes all out with the full psychedelic 21-gun salute, accompanied by a frenzied keyboard rendition of Ravel’s Boléro. Game feels more like an elongated music video than a complete narrative, but there’s enough bold visuals to suggest that Minton could follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into successfully graduating from the Brit music promo scene.

The film is in UK and Irish theaters from November 17.