Wasteman (18)

Shy and softly spoken inmate Taylor has languished behind bars for years. A prisoner officer discloses that sentences handed down to inmates like Taylor are being reviewed nationwide to ease the pressure on the service. He is eligible for parole and could taste life on the outside earlier than anticipated. The arrival of cocksure new cellmate Dee throws those plans into disarray. Setting himself up as a rival to the resident top dog, Dee quickly makes a name for himself on the block.

LondonNet Film Review

Wasteman (18) Film Review from LondonNet

Survival behind bars requires brutal sacrifices in a gritty Bafta-nominated prison drama directed by Cal McMau, which opens with jittery mobile phone footage of a group of inmates bursting into a cell to punish a thief. Once the culprit has been identified, aggrieved parties dole out a wince-inducing beating and a ringleader slams a TV set onto the head of the accused, eliciting a cackle of delight from his accomplice. Welcome to the nerve-jangling hell of Wasteman…

Shy and softly spoken inmate Taylor (David Jonsson) has languished behind bars for years. He has learned to keep his head down to avoid a beating from top dog Paul (Alex Hassell) and right-hand man Gaz (Corin Silva), who supply him with the tablets of synthetic opioid Subutex that he crushes up and snorts as an escape from screams on the cellblock. A prisoner officer discloses that sentences handed down to inmates like Taylor are being reviewed nationwide to ease the pressure on the service. He is eligible for parole and could taste life on the outside earlier than anticipated. “It’s really easy. All you have to do is fill out the worksheet and stay out of trouble,” explains the officer.

The arrival of cocksure new cellmate Dee (Tom Blyth) throws those plans into disarray. Setting himself up as a small-scale rival to Paul, Dee begins to make a name for himself on the block and urges Taylor to reconnect with Adam (Cole Martin), the 14-year-old son he has never met, by direct messaging the boy’s Instagram account. Dee’s grand ambition to become “top boy” risks Taylor’s parole and both their lives. Taylor becomes a hapless pawn in his cellmate’s vengeful plan, lighting a fuse on open warfare between gangs that culminates in bloodshed and snarling retribution.

Wasteman is an uncompromising depiction of the modern British justice system, which trades in the same brand of disquieting hyperrealism as Alan Clarke’s nightmarish 1979 Borstal drama Scum. Working closely with Switchback, a charity that supports young people in the justice system, director McMau punctuates the macho posturing with chillingly matter-of-fact demonstrates of violence with improvised weapons. Jonsson’s painfully shy loner lowers his eyes to avoid drawing unwanted attention from fellow inmates and feels painfully vulnerable in every testosterone-soaked scene. His character’s drug addiction is an Achilles heel that screenwriters Hunter Andrews and Eoin Doran mercilessly exploit to set plot wheels in motion.

He contrasts sharply with Blyth’s sociopathic peacock, who struts into the prison in full voice and strips off for a brief flash of full-frontal nudity to assert authority over his new domain. Every act of generosity or kindness has unspoken strings attached, and some of them can be used to strangle.

– Kim Hu