Interview: Geoff Barrow talks making new movie ‘GAME’ ++ Portishead, Beak> and more

Geoff Barrow, John Minton, Jason Williamson & Marc Bessant at GAME screening Q&A

“It’s not like we want to be A24 or something,” Geoff Barrow says of Invada Films, the new motion picture branch of his Invada Records that just launched its debut feature, GAME, which he co-wrote and produced. “But it just seemed like the next the the next phase of of trying to do something you’re not supposed to do.”

Barrow, who co-founded Portishead and Beak>, has worked in film for 15 years composing scores — his debut was for Banksy’s Exit Through the Gift Shop — and most of his resume is in collaboration with Ben Salisbury, including Ex Machina, Annihilation, Civil War and more. But GAME is his first time as a producer and writer, and helping him out are two old friends and collaborators: director John Minton, who has done live visuals and videos for Portishead, and artist and actor Marc Bessant, who did the album cover for the second Portishead album. You can watch the trailer for GAME below.

Both Marc and John also get story credit for GAME, which is a thriller set against the early ’90s UK rave scene. Marc plays David, an aging partier who crashes his car in rural England after a rave and is found by a poacher in the woods, played with menace and humor by Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson. Things do not go as you might expect, and we’ll leave it at that.

I talked to Geoff, John and Marc on the latest episode of the BV Interviews Podcast about the film, the difficulties of making it with a very small budget ($200k), writing new ’90s-sounding rave tracks for the soundtrack, working with animals, and more. Plus, Geoff talks about his final tour with Beak>, which wrapped up earlier this year, what’s next for Invada Films, the future of Portishead, his favorite albums and films of 2025, and lots more.

A heads up: we keep the first half of our conversation (mostly) spoiler free but at around the 34 minute mark we do start talking about specifics of the film, so if you haven’t seen GAME yet, skip ahead to the 54:40 minute mark for talk on Portishead, Beak> and more. Listen below or wherever you get your podcasts.