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The work of Bristol sound co-founder the musician-producer, this sharp-edged though undernourished first film turns a sceptical eye on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Venal pillhead 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 overturned in the wreckage of his car in a woodland – and subject to the angry eye of the Poacher (vocalist Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with impatience toward city dwellers, he is a fractured society personified: “You’re one of those noisy cunts from up on the heath.”

Unsteady Opening and Darkly Funny Duel

The film begins uncertainly, lingering excessively on pedantically chronicling David’s attempt to extricate himself from his seatbelt, while clumsily segueing into flashbacks of his normal activities. The bigger point – that the rave-era youth were mainly focused on number one – is firmly made. But these brief episodes are too thin to properly prime us for what to expect when the Poacher turns up, fuming after David kills his dog. Still, a darkly funny duel unfolds – David desperate to escape; the Woodsman denying his container of cider, intent on soaking him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, projecting heavy threat in the role, is evocative of Michael Smiley.

Visual Flair and Promo-Inspired Sensibility

There is only one important plot development, but it leads to a comically executed chaotic run on the forest trails that veers toward rural terror. Director 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 frenzied keyboard rendition of Ravel’s Boléro. Game feels more like an elongated music video than a complete narrative, but there’s enough strident imagery to suggest that Minton could follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into making the leap from the Brit music promo scene.

The film is in British and Irish cinemas from 17 November.