Wasteman
Taylor (David Jonsson, "Rye Lane," "The Long Walk") is surprised when the prison psychiatrist (singer/songwriter Ray BLK) tells him he has a good chance of early release if he fills out a form and continues his good behavior, news that is immediately jeopardized when he gets a new cellmate. Dee (Tom Blyth, "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes") is determined to become the prison's top dog, compromising Taylor by helping him reconnect with the fourteen year-old son he's never met, Adam (Cole Martin), because Taylor was a drug user and dealer who was sentenced to thirteen years when two of his clients died and his ex declared him a "Wasteman."
Laura's Review: B+
The feature debut of director Cal McMau and writers Hunter Andrews and Eoin Doran was inspired by McMau viewing smuggled phone video from British prisons, a device interspersed here for an atmospheric docudrama effect. The system Taylor navigates is one of controlled chaos, where drugs are readily available amid a black market hierarchy, one he has been serving with haircuts to serve his habit. But those men, Paul (Alex Hassell, "The Tragedy of Macbeth," "Young Woman and the Sea") and his right hand Gaz (Corin Silva, TV's 'Masters of the Air'), are just the guys Dee goes gunning for and when they retaliate its Taylor's loyalties that are put to the test.
Jonsson's Taylor may be stoned half the time, but he keeps his head down, so we know trouble is brewing the minute Blyth's Dee marches in, aggressively demanding his 'things' be delivered to the fed up guard, then taking over the entire cell with his personal decor and merch. Taylor keeps to himself, leaving the cell to make a call to Becca who immediately asks how he got her number. Taylor wants to reconnect with his son, but she isn't having it. 'He doesn't know you. The last time he saw you you were off your head.' After demanding he not call again, she hangs up. Dee surprises Taylor, though, showing him video of his guy on the outside, a scary looking bruiser, suggesting that maybe 'he can sort out your missus.' Taylor hesitantly asks if he might borrow Dee's phone and is thrilled when Dee agrees, promptly locating his son on social media. Soon father and son are having brief chats on the phone. Dee arranges for 'his guy' to deliver an expensive pair of trainers to Adam 'from your dad,' video of the boy receiving them sent back. But while this is all well and good, it is also troubling - Dee now has leverage over Taylor, who genuinely wants nothing more than a chance to make good on the outside.
But while he's grateful for Dee's efforts at reconnecting him with Adam, he panics when a drone appears outside their cell window, delivering drugs. And when Paul and Gaz get wind of Dee's thriving rivalry, they pay a visit, beating the man while Taylor cowers in a corner, eventually giving away his hidden cache. They also force Taylor to deliver a punch to his unconscious cellmate, capturing it all on video. When Dee learns what's transpired, Taylor is given a dire ultimatum.
Jonsson and Blyth make for a dynamic pairing, a lamb and a lion. Jonsson wears a perpetual frown, his forehead creased with worry, while Blyth's very expression is a challenge, his posture domineering. Andrews and Doran corner Taylor between the men he was loyal to with the new guy who's given him something valuable - access to his son - making his circumstance impossible, but they also surprise us with his solution, one I, for one, didn't see coming. Director of photography Lorenzo Levrini keeps us tight in the action, the 3:2 aspect ratio enclosing the action like the walls of a cell, his penultimate shot an arresting composition. McMau, who won the best debuting director at the British Independent Film Awards (he and his writers were nominated for a BAFTA in the same category), gives the whole an aura of gritty chaos with social subtext.
Robin's Review: B
Taylor (David Jonsson) is up for parole while serving a 13-year stretch for manslaughter. He is marking the days before he is free and can return to his teen son, Adam. Then, a new convict, Dee (Tom Blyth), becomes his roommate and things start to go sour for the hopeful con, in "Wasteman."
First-time helmer Cal McMau puts us into the heart of British prison life with Taylor doing his time as a prison cook and occasional barber. He has hope now that he is eligible for early release and will see his long-estranged son. Then, the monkey wrench is thrown into the works when his new roomie arrives.
Dee is an entrepreneur and begins supplying other with their day-to-day needs, like shampoo, smokes and drugs. The latter is what is going to get Taylor into trouble with the established prison drug suppliers, Gaz (Corin Silva) and Paul (Alex Hassell). The two thugs raid Dee's merchandise and beat him mercilessly to warn him off. They also implicate Taylor in taking part in the beating and spread it among the other inmates. All the while, Taylor worries about his parole. Then, things get even more complicated for hopeful parolee.
Director McMau does not embellish as he puts us among the prison population. Taylor keeps a low key presence, trying to avoid any confrontation that will keep him from his son. His introspection is the opposite of the swagger and self-confidence that defines Dee.
Taylor and Dee are total opposites in mood and temper. As such, Tom Blyth has the stronger, more dominant role while David Jonsson makes his reticence a part of Taylor's overwhelming need to be a father and with his son. We are kept wondering if Taylor will get his wish for freedom and at what cost.
The first-time helmer keeps it straightforward in the storytelling with both leads carving out fully dimensioned performances as two very different characters pushed together by the system that put them there.
Vertigo Releasing releases "Wasteman" in theaters on 4/17/26.
