George Purse is a former steelworker who works as a gamekeeper on a large estate on the outskirts of Sheffield. The film even notes Hoyland Nether, just north of Sheffield, as the home of scriptwriter Barry Hines, grounding the story in a real place. George’s job involves catching trespassers and poachers on the land and delivering them to the police, a duty that often puts him in tense confrontations. His role also quietly shapes his family life: his son is bullied at school by classmates who he himself has previously apprehended, a detail that underscores the moral and social pressures swirling around this rural estate.
George remains loyal to the Duke of the estate, even as he struggles with basic repairs to the small cottage where he and his wife, Mary, live. The tension at home deepens as Mary feels increasingly isolated and uneasy about the annual pheasant shoot that George participates in. George himself is depicted as practical and unsentimental about animals; he does not want his son to have a pet cat, and the film does not shy away from showing George restraining, trapping, and sometimes killing animals. There is a stark moment in the credits noted by Ken Loach in the audio commentary: the fox shooting appears to be real, a detail that adds to the film’s raw and documentary feel.
In a pub discussion, two friends argue that poaching is not a grave crime, which opens a wider conversation about land ownership and the king’s influence in securing it. At first, George resists the notion, insisting that he “has a job to do.” Later, in another exchange with a fellow worker, he raises almost the same point to critique the Duke’s inherited wealth, hinting that he is beginning to question the system he serves.
A pivotal scene occurs while George is feeding the pheasants: he catches two former steelworks colleagues poaching on the land. One man escapes, but the other, a Durham man, stays behind because his dog cannot run with him. George threatens to shoot the dog unless the man accompanies him to the police station, a moment that vividly conveys the film’s hard-edged moral landscape.
Before the shoot even begins, trouble brews as the beaters threaten to strike for higher pay. George jokes that the request isn’t high enough, and a beater challenges him by asking which side he’s on, given George’s evasive stance. In the end, the pay rise is conceded, but the atmosphere remains fraught. Once the shoot starts, George’s behavior earns a guest’s complaint to the Duke, who then cautions him not to swear in front of ladies while subtly rewarding his work with a tip.
The other practical snag of daily life on the estate is a long-standing request about a window-frame repair that George had made months earlier; he is met with a rebuff, underscoring a sense of neglect and the strain of living under an imperious landlord. The film closes on a quietly stark note: George is alone, with Mary having left only a pie for him to heat up, leaving the viewer with a poignant image of a man who has navigated a shifting moral landscape and must face the consequences of his choices.
