The game is simple: how many carbon-copy scenes can you endure before going mad? The answer is very few. Yet, much of John Minton’s feature debut focuses our attention on the same cycle: wake up, attempt an escape, fail, rinse and repeat. It recurs so often that Game loses most of its meaning early on, lapsing into tedium and cartoonish fits of caricature – yes, there is a hallucinogenic drug scene, an indie staple. 

David (a solid Marc Bessant) is trapped in an overturned car after a crash. He’s unseen for days as he dips in and out of consciousness – wake up, attempt an escape, fail, you get the picture. Your attention span will be tested, as will David’s sanity. Both will break before too long. 

Director Minton, who co-wrote, edited, and self-funded the project, attempts a close-quarters thriller in the style of Buried and Locke, but the script – penned by Minton and three other writers – can’t muster the necessary propulsion to make an impact. Such a pared-back story requires strong minute-to-minute tension, which is absent here. 

Minton has the grungy style down to a tee. His atmosphere is powerfully drawn and shots of owls, foxes and pheasants are sinister and eerie, inspecting David as he survives another night. 

His slim cast, however, can’t provide the dynamism vital for a two-hander like this. Jason Williamson’s poacher is more parody than true menace, a pontificating portrait of a villain with a screw loose without a whiff of threat to him. 

There are sparks of brilliance featuring a dog and a car window, where David gives John Wick a run for his money, and a Walter White moment where he creates a brain-breaking, drugged-up cocktail. It’s a glimpse of what could have been, a much-needed shot in the arm that’s over as soon as it hits.  

Sadly, Minton’s debut is a self-funded feature like so many others: insular to the point of losing perspective and in need of the many voices and points of view a larger production provides. Still, breaking into the studio system is a challenge – the game is rigged.

In selected cinemas now