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Oscilloscope Laboratories has landed North American rights to “Game,” a rave thriller marking the feature debut of visual artist John Minton and hailing from Portishead founder Geoff Barrow’s Invada Films banner. A theatrical
release is being planned for winter 2027.
The film stars Jason Williamson of Sleaford Mods and Marc Bessant in their first leading roles. Rob Williams penned the screenplay from a story by Barrow and Bessant, which was developed with Minton and Williams.
“Set against the backdrop of the 1993 British rave scene, this gripping thriller follows aging raver David (Bessant), who crashes his car deep in the woods after stealing a stash of money and drugs,” the film’s synopsis reads. “Trapped, injured and helpless, he is discovered by a mysterious poacher (Williamson) — but instead of rescuing him, the poacher has other ideas in store.”
Minton and Barrow have previously collaborated on music videos and live visuals for Portishead, with Minton’s other credits including Simple Minds, Oasis’ Live ’25 tour, Noel Gallagher, the Pretenders and music videos for Beth Gibbons, Sleaford Mods and Gazelle Twin.
“’Game’ started as an ambition between friends and colleagues, pooling our skills and experience to challenge ourselves to make a feature,” Minton said in a statement. “My career has revolved around visuals for music and live performance, with directing and editing as the foundation of that work. Interpreting world-renowned artists, their personalities and the essence of their music visually has been my thing. Making ‘Game’ felt like a natural evolution of that process into long-form narrative.”
He added, “I made the first music videos for Invada Records over 20 years ago, so to now direct Invada Films’ first feature is a full-circle moment for me. If we’d known at the beginning of the process that ‘Game’ would eventually be acquired by Oscilloscope for North America, we would’ve been elated. To see it find a home with such a kindred spirit is bloody exciting.”
Deborah Rawlings serves as producer alongside Barrow, who has previously worked in film and TV as a composer for “Civil War,” “Ex Machina,” “Black Mirror” and more. His Invada Records label has released the scores for “Stranger Things,” “Drive” and “Red Dead Redemption.”
Williams currently has projects in development with the Imaginarium Corestar, Anton Entertainment and Rebellion Studios. His comic series “Unfollow” is being produced by Margot Robbie’s Lucky Chap for HBO.
Oscilloscope Laboratories was founded by Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys in 2008. Its releases include Lynne Ramsay’s “We Need to Talk About Kevin,” Kelly Reichardt’s “Meek’s Cutoff,” Ciro Guerra’s “Embrace of the Serpent” and more.
