Follows parolee Taylor whose fresh start hopes are jeopardized by cellmate Dee’s arrival. As Dee takes Taylor under his wing, a vicious attack tests their bond, forcing Taylor to choose between protecting Dee and his own parole chances.

‘Wasteman’ is a British prison drama from first time director Cal McMau, centering on a prisoner who has been told he is eligible for early release after 13 years in prison. That introduces the possibility of getting out and seeing his now 14-year-old son, though it is fraught with danger as he must maintain ‘good’ behaviour ahead of his proposed release – a seemingly straightforward ask that is almost immediately complicated by a change of cellmate. It is a prison drama and therefore it must be described as gritty, but in the case of ‘Wasteman’, that description does clearly apply.

David Jonsson stars in the leading role as Taylor, while his new cellmate Dee is played by Tom Blyth. Taylor has spent much of his time in prison addicted to drugs, which he gets from fellow prisoners Gaz and Paul (Corin Silva & Alex Hassell) in exchange for regular haircuts, while also working in the kitchens as a cook. The prospect of early release (neatly linked to recent real life Labour proposals to reduce prison numbers) presents new opportunities for him, which are threatened when Dee arrives. Dee is immediately marked as trouble and it is virtually impossible for Taylor to avoid getting caught in the crossfire when Dee starts selling drugs from their cell, drawing the attention of Gaz and Paul who don’t take kindly to someone muscling in on their turf. The narrative thereon focuses on Taylor’s attempts to keep himself out of trouble without marking himself out for retribution from any of these other individuals – a difficult tightrope to walk.

David Jonsson’s performance is particularly good and he is building a pretty impressive resume at a young age, while I think Tom Blyth was a good foil though I struggled to fully buy him as the menacing wildcard prisoner. Similarities to other British prison dramas are hard to avoid, with ‘Starred Up’ which featured a young Jack O’Connell an obvious touchpoint from relatively recent times (I can’t believe that was over 10 years ago now!). ‘Wasteman’ is a suspenseful debut from Cal McMau with strong leading performances and a tense narrative that rarely lets up for its lean, mean 90 minute runtime, and I enjoyed it a lot.

Rating: 4/5

Directed By: Cal McMau

Starring: David Jonsson, Tom Blyth, Corin Silva, Alex Hassell and Paul Hilton

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt29028515/