Directed by Cal McMau and written by Hunter Andrews and Eoin Doran, Taylor’s hopes for a fresh start post-parole are jeopardised 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 chances at freedom. Starring: David Jonsson, Tom Blyth, Alex Hassell, Neil Linpow, Paul Hilton, Corin Silva and Layton Blake.
Making a good first impression will always be a key element in cinema and sadly, by choosing to jump straight in with the 9:16 shots, Wasteman makes a weak introduction. You can see the intention to reflect modern day prisons where phones are rampant, and content like that does very much exist but while its point is highly relevant, its actual content doesn’t have a strong impact. That’s the biggest problem which the film struggles with throughout, it feels all too familiar.
As Wasteman moves forward, it feels like we’re going through the motions, it’s bleak, aggressive, violent and all the things that we’ve seen many times before. The directorial style is fairly flat, especially with that reliance on vertical shots, it’s lacking individuality or punch. The same can be said for the film thematically, and even the score feels stereotypical and performative. There was potential within this story to explore unnecessary, harsh sentences for inmates with minor offences, which is an incredibly relevant issue within the UK prison system, but they only touch upon it in the briefest of ways.
David Jonsson is such a fantastically talented actor, you would hope that he would offset some of those issues, but his character is so toned down, that it only makes Wasteman feel like it’s going even slower. Granted, he finally gets to bring his skills into the spotlight in the film’s final scenes but it’s far too late. Tom Blyth gives a great performance, but his character is a paint by numbers of young men born into a life of poverty and crime who simply slowly become lifers of the system. You could also say the same for Alex Hassell’s character.
Wasteman is a pretty standard prison drama. You can easily see Cal McMau, Hunter Andrews and Eoin Doran’s intentions to update the subgenre for today’s generation, but they don’t put enough of their own stamp on it to set it apart. It’s all too familiar, it’s missing that visceral edge, it doesn’t have many surprises along the way, it moves quite slowly and it doesn’t make anywhere near enough use of David Jonsson’s talent. There was the opportunity here to make a loud, raw comment on the British prison system and its many shortfalls, but they missed the mark.
FilmCarnage.com 