Cal McMau’s debut feature documents the relentless brutality of prison life, and features searing performances from Tom Blyth and David Jonsson. The latter continues on his rising star trajectory as Taylor, an incarcerated drug addict who is granted the opportunity of early parole in exchange for good behaviour. However, when Blyth’s charismatic and intimidating Dee becomes his new cellmate, the hope of freedom gets much more complicated. While it may not break new ground in British prison drama terrain, WASTEMAN nonetheless provides a claustrophobic, unforgiving and moving picture of life behind bars.

Somerset’s Shepton Mallet Prison was the filming location of choice for McMau’s bold and bleak vision of jail, violence, and the pressures of loyalty. The penitentiary can be found gleefully described online as the world’s oldest prison, and besides hosting regular tours for interested citizens, it has also played host to TV series BEAUMONT and DES, and (perhaps most famously) PADDINGTON 2. However, no innocent bears or elaborate dance sequences are to be found in McMau’s production, which uses a whole wing as the stage for chaos to unfold.

“Even though WASTEMAN’s brutal narrative isn’t anything novel, it possesses a freshness courtesy of McMau’s first time behind the camera, [and] makes a gut punch impact with its sharp 90-minute running time.”

And what chaos. WASTEMAN was initially planned to be distributed by A24 and directed by the Safdie brothers, who decided to drop out of the project in favour of UNCUT GEMS. Yet the frenetic action for which they are noted can be felt constantly throughout WASTEMAN, with eye-watering violence to match. The film’s guiding beacon of peace is found in Jonsson’s quiet and reserved Taylor, who becomes determined to kick his drug habit and keep his head down after being told about an early release scheme relying on his good behaviour. Having already proved himself a worthy lead in RYE LANE and THE LONG WALK, Jonsson is convincing as a shy but savvy inmate trying to get back to his son. As if the outbursts of fighting in the prison weren’t tense enough, they are made even more unsettling by James A. Demetriou’s sharp editing, when precious moments of respite from conflict are jarringly interrupted by quick cuts back to mayhem and anarchy.

Even though WASTEMAN’s brutal narrative isn’t anything novel, it possesses a freshness courtesy of McMau’s first time behind the camera, added to the debut screenplay from newcomers Hunter Andrews and Eoin Doran. The film makes a gut punch impact with its sharp 90-minute running time. Cinematographer Lorenzo Levrini manages to craft a particularly haunting image of the two leads as they sit in their cell staring at the screen, despite the dismal greys of the prison walls. For all its bombastic brutality, there’s a quiet brilliance to that isolated moment that creates a powerful effect with the film’s final images.