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Produced by Bristol sound co-founder Geoff Barrow, this scabrous though slight debut feature casts a critical gaze on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Self-serving pillhead David (the actor) first robs an unconscious dealer, then in a later recollection tries to break into his own family home. In no time, he's upside down in the wreckage of his car in a woodland – and subject to the angry eye of the Poacher (vocalist Jason Williamson). Refusing to extricate David, with no time for townies, he is a fractured society personified: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.”

A Shaky Start and Grimly Amusing Duel

Game gets off to a shaky start, lingering excessively on meticulously detailing David’s attempt to extricate himself from his seatbelt, while clumsily segueing into past scenes of his normal activities. The central theme – that the ecstasy generation were mainly focused on themselves – is firmly made. But these brief episodes are insufficiently developed to properly prime us for what to expect when the Woodsman turns up, fuming after David kills his dog. Nevertheless, a darkly funny standoff takes hold – David desperate to escape; the Woodsman denying his container of cider, determined to dousing him instead in embittered discourse. Williamson, projecting ponderous menace in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.

Stylish Imagery and Promo-Inspired Sensibility

Just a single key story turn, but it results in a hilariously staged rampage 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 early stages, he now lets rip with the full lysergic 21-gun salute, accompanied by a wild organ version 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 emulate Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into making the leap from the UK video industry.

Game releases in British and Irish cinemas from November 17.