Wasteman review: A gripping and gritty prison drama
David Jonsson and Tom Blyth are two of the most promising British actors of their generation, so the prospect of seeing them on-screen together made Wasteman all the more exciting.
The film follows Taylor (Jonsson), who has been in prison for 13 years. His sentence has been reviewed and he’ll be released early as long as he keeps his head down and stays out of trouble. But that’s easier said than done for this drug addict. To make matters worse, Dee (Blyth) moves into his cell and runs his drug business out of there, which puts Taylor in the middle of a war between Dee and the block’s reigning drug lords Paul (Alex Hassell) and Gaz (Corin Silva).
Wasteman is a gritty and violent prison drama that slowly layers the tension, conflict and stakes until it becomes a full-on thriller in the final act. The film opens with vertical phone footage of a brutal, deadly confrontation in a cell, and that basically gives you a taste of what’s to come. I was immediately gripped and on edge. Writer/director Cal McMau returns to this device often throughout the film to depict criminal activity and makes the violence feel visceral thanks to shaky camera movements and blood splatter on screen.
The characters are well-defined and McMau builds the relationship between the cellmates brilliantly. They seem like friends but the scary, volatile Dee could switch on Taylor in an instant. He’s not one to be messed with, and Taylor is torn between an allegiance to his cellmate and a sense of loyalty towards Paul and Gaz, who have been giving him his drugs for years.
Jonsson, who was excellent in last year’s The Long Walk, is quiet and passive and his hunched posture says it all. He doesn’t stand up for himself and does what they tell him to, even if it risks his early release. Dee is the complete opposite. He takes over the cell with his designer goods, drugs and Nintendo Switch (prison certainly looks different to what I imagine!) and boldly declares he’s “gonna boss this place” by any means necessary. They are both very different roles for each of these actors and it’s good to see them show their range. Blyth has the bigger, showier part, but Jonsson’s Taylor should not be underestimated.
Wasteman is a tight and intense 90-minute movie with a fantastic final act. What a debut from McMau!
In cinemas from Friday 20th February