🔗 Share this article Game Review: Sleaford Mods' Jason Williamson Assumes Character in Sceptical Look at Ecstasy Generation Era The work of Bristol sound co-founder Geoff Barrow, this scabrous if undernourished first film casts a critical gaze on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Self-serving drug user David (the actor) first robs an passed-out supplier, then in another flashback tries to break into his own family home. Before you can say, he's upside down in the remains of his car in a forest – and subject to the angry eye of the Woodsman (Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with impatience toward townies, he is broken Britain embodied: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.” A Shaky Start and Grimly Amusing Confrontation The film begins uncertainly, lingering excessively on meticulously detailing David’s attempt to free himself from his safety harness, while clumsily segueing into flashbacks of his normal activities. The bigger point – that the rave-era youth were primarily out for themselves – is clearly conveyed. But these brief episodes are insufficiently developed to properly prime us for what to expect when the Poacher arrives, fuming after David kills his dog. Still, a grimly amusing duel unfolds – David desperate to escape; the Poacher withholding his jerrycan of cider, intent on soaking him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, exuding heavy threat in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley. Visual Flair and Music Video Sensibility There is only one important plot development, but it leads to a comically executed chaotic run on the woodland paths that veers toward 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 lysergic grand display, soundtracked to a frenzied keyboard rendition of Ravel’s Boléro. The movie resembles an elongated music video than a complete narrative, but there’s enough strident imagery to suggest that Minton could emulate Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings et al into successfully graduating from the UK video industry. The film releases in British and Irish theaters from 17 November.