Film Analysis: Sleaford Mods' Jason Williamson Assumes Role in Sceptical Look at Ecstasy Generation Era
Helmed by Portishead co-founder Geoff Barrow, this scabrous though slight debut feature casts a critical gaze on the ecstasy-fueled club scene. Venal drug user David (Marc Bessant) first robs an passed-out supplier, then in another flashback tries to burgle his own family home. 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 Woodsman (Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson). Declining to free David, with no time for townies, he is broken Britain personified: “You’re one of those noisy cunts 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 primarily out for number one – is clearly conveyed. But these vignettes are insufficiently developed to properly prime us for what to expect when the Woodsman arrives, fuming after David kills his dog. Nevertheless, a darkly funny standoff takes hold – David eager to get away; the Woodsman denying his container of scrumpy, determined to dousing him instead in resentful talk. Williamson, exuding heavy threat in the role, is reminiscent of Michael Smiley.
Visual Flair and Music Video Sensibility
There is only one key story turn, but it results in 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 artful shots of bugs in headlights in the early stages, he now lets rip with the full psychedelic grand display, accompanied by a wild organ version 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 follow Jonathan Glazer, Garth Jennings and others into successfully graduating from the Brit music promo scene.
The film releases in UK and Irish theaters from 17 November.