Rent Wasteman (2025)

The Shape of It - Wasteman review by griggs

David Jonsson carries Wasteman almost entirely on his back, and the weight of it doesn’t show. His Taylor is a man trying to shrink himself small enough to slip through the gap leading to parole — quiet, careful, holding himself together one day at a time. Then Tom Blyth’s Dee arrives, all chaos and menace, and Taylor’s survival plan starts to unravel.

Cal McMau’s debut is lean and efficient: ninety minutes, no padding, none of the choreographed violence of a Hollywood prison film. Forest Swords’ score hums underneath everything like something bad about to happen.

The central dynamic is familiar enough that you spot the shape of it early. The supporting cast feel more like parts of the prison machinery than people with lives beyond it. It holds you without ever quite haunting you.

Prison is the sort of place where everyone talks about freedom and nobody seems able to reach it. Wasteman understands that better than most — it just isn’t the first to say so.

Jonsson & Blyth are outstanding in a brutal & visceral prison drama charged with authenticity - Wasteman review by Timmy B

The prison drama is one which the British have done sensational work in. Whilst arguably one of the most famous is Scum, recent films including Bronson and Starred Up have provided visceral and searing looks into not just living but surviving inside. And to this incredible roll call, Wasteman rightfully takes it's place. It is a devastating, tightly-paced and at times unbearably tense potboiler, with 2 incredible central performances.

Taylor (Jonsson) has been inside for 13 years. He tries to keep a low profile, although is also reliant on drugs to be able to tolerate the violent & unpredictable prison he is incarcerated in. After his previous cellmate is brutally beaten over a debt, he is informed that he is eligible for early release due to his good behaviour if he enlists in a rehabilitation scheme & continues to stay out of trouble. Unfortunately, he is then given a new cellmate in the form of Dee (Blyth,) a man with a hair-trigger temper, who has been thrown out of a previous prison and is intent on shaking things up, much to the horror of Taylor.

The 2 main things I came away with after watching Wasteman is firstly the incredible performances from Jonsson & Blyth; and secondly how well this film is made, from the amazing way it is able to raise tension & genuinely have you watching between your fingers, especially in the last 20 minutes.

Jonsson is quickly making a name for himself as an incredible actor. The only thing I had seen him in before this was Alien: Romulus (where he was far and away the best part of it,) but his status as an up-and-comer has been steadily building. And his performance in Wasteman is incredible because of how understated but powerful his acting is. Many times when you have 2 opposing performances (one domineering, the other understated,) the theatrical of the 2 totally overpowers and nulls the subtle one, often due to how interesting those over-the-top portrayals can be.

But Jonsson is far too committed & brilliant an actor to be sidelined. We root for Taylor every moment he is on screen, having seen how devastating prison has been for him, both in the depravation of his liberty/being away from his son, as well as living in an environment where violence erupts repeatedly out of nowhere.

And in the opposite corner, Blyth gives a monumental performance as Dee. We first get introduced to him singing "Oh the good life" as he goes to his cell. Within 2 minutes, he has dumped his stuff, stripped naked and asserted his authority, whilst Taylor looks on with a mixture of bewilderment & horror. Dee then sets about asserting his dominance & undercutting the established drug dealers, leading to brutal consequences. Covered in tattoos & stacked to hell, Dee is a walking nightmare, as well as an extremely charming & engrossing anti-hero. The chemistry between him and Jonsson is perfect.

And their performances are complimented by the tight direction & production of the film. The prison is shot as an absolute nightmare hellhole, the mise-en-scene so effective you can almost smell the sweat through the screen. The music and sound are also excellent.

But this drama is not for the faint-hearted. It is a no-holds barred & brutal story, but filled with characters who you can relate to as well as a story arc that genuinely surprises and shocks you with it's twists. You are laughing one minute then cringing the next.

A brilliant British film