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Produced by Bristol sound co-founder the musician-producer, this sharp-edged though slight first film casts a critical gaze on 90s rave culture. Self-serving pillhead David (Marc Bessant) first robs an unconscious dealer, then in another flashback tries to burgle his own parents. Before you can say, he's upside down in the remains of his car in a woodland – and subject to the wrathful eye of the Poacher (vocalist Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with no time for city dwellers, he is a fractured society personified: “You’re one of those loud individuals from up on the heath.”

A Shaky Start and Grimly Amusing Duel

The film begins uncertainly, lingering excessively on meticulously detailing David’s attempt to extricate himself from his safety harness, while clumsily segueing into flashbacks of his normal activities. The bigger point – that the rave-era youth were mainly focused on themselves – is clearly conveyed. But these vignettes are insufficiently developed to adequately prepare us for what to expect when the Woodsman arrives, enraged after David kills his dog. Nevertheless, a darkly funny duel takes hold – David desperate to escape; the Poacher denying his container of scrumpy, determined to dousing him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, exuding heavy threat in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.

Visual Flair and Promo-Inspired Sensibility

Just a single key story turn, but it leads to a hilariously staged chaotic run on the forest trails that veers toward rural terror. Director John Minton finally gets to go all in with his ostentatious visuals: where he was hunkered down doing impressionistic closeups of bugs in headlights in the opening part, he now lets rip with the full lysergic grand display, soundtracked to a wild organ version of Ravel’s Boléro. The movie resembles an extended promo than a complete narrative, but there’s enough bold visuals to suggest that Minton could emulate Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings et al into making the leap from the UK video industry.

Game releases in UK and Irish theaters from November 17.