Title – Wasteman (2025)

Director – Cal McMau (feature debut)

Cast – David Jonsson, Tom Blyth, Alex Hassell

Plot – After years of incarceration, potential parolee Taylor (Jonsson) finds his shot at freedom becoming threatened by fiery new cellmate Dee (Blyth).  

“This is business”

Review by Eddie on 20/07/2026

While it lacks some character depth and nuances that would’ve elevated it to elite status, Cal McMau’s BAFTA nominated debut feature film is a noteworthy prison thriller that is sure to ramp up the blood pressure and induce white knuckles for many who seek it out.

Produced by Boiling Point and Adolescence filmmaker Philip Barantini, whose intense DNA is all over this unrelenting 90-minute exercise, Wasteman tells the simple and familiar story of David Jonsson’s long incarcerated Taylor, who nearing his imminent release is thrown into a chaotic world thanks to new cellmate Dee (an incendiary turn from rising British star Tom Blyth), with Dee’s arrival into Taylor’s life threatening his very freedom.

A familiar set-up to anyone that’s ever partaken of a prison drama, there’s nothing overtly surprising or groundbreaking about Wasteman’s tale but thanks to McMau’s direction and the performances of his two leads, Wasteman quickly and surely becomes a top-class affair that is unrelenting in its rawness, winding up to an unpredictable and sweat-inducing finale.

Rumoured early in conception to being courted by the Safdie brothers, who perhaps saw similar high-energy potential that they have produced together and individually in Good Times, Uncut Gems and Marty Supreme, Wasteman makes us feel like a fly on the wall in Taylor and Dee’s oppressive prison life with the film barely leaving their cell, cell block or wing, but never being anything but engaging.

A large part of this is due to the work of Jonsson and Blyth, who both further push their cases to be regarded as future award winning stars.

Playing polar opposite characters with Jonsson’s softly spoken junkie Taylor entirely different to Blyth’s brash, bold and brazen Dee, the two talented actors do top-notch work here and as the cat and mouse games between the two ramp up to dangerous levels, both performers are up for the task.

Letting this well-made and feisty affair down however is a lack of notable character depth and insight.

Having more time spent or allocated to growing this space more would’ve allowed viewers to be further emotionally attached to what occurs throughout McMau’s feature, with the end result here as it stands not allowing for much care for whatever the final outcome may be, as is the case that no one here is really worthy of our affections, even when the stakes are so high.

What’s undoubtable is we’ve just laid witness to the arrival of a very talented directional voice and the continued growth of two generational actors one hopes to see much more of in the years yet to come.

Final Say –

Raw, gritty and unrelenting, Wasteman brings a fresh approach to well-trodden prison/crime tropes to deliver a notable debut film that may not be perfect but provides some white-knuckle entertainment that matches it with the big players.

3 1/2 drone visits out of 5