| Wasteman | |
| Director: | Cal McMau |
| Producer: |
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| Screenplay: |
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| Starring: | |
| Music: | Forest Swords |
| Cinematography: | Lorenzo Levrini |
| Editing: | James A. Demetriou |
| Production Companies: | Agile Films |
| Distributor: | Lionsgate |
| Runtime: | 90 minutes[1] |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
Wasteman is a 2025 British prison film directed by Cal McMau from a screenplay by Hunter Andrews and Eoin Doran. The film stars David Jonsson and Tom Blyth.
Wasteman premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival on 6 September 2025, and was released in the United Kingdom by Lionsgate on 20 February 2026.
Taylor, a prison cook who has been incarcerated for 13 years, is informed he is eligible for early release on the basis he maintains good behaviour. Taylor regularly does haircuts for fellow prisoners Gaz and Paul, from whom he buys drugs to fuel his addiction. He also tries to get in contact with his now 14-year-old son Adam.
While struggling to fill out the form for his release, Taylor is assigned a new cellmate, Dee, who starts selling drugs not long after his arrival, taking business away from Gaz and Paul. Taylor and Dee start to form a friendship, with Taylor opening up about how he accidentally killed a teenager by selling him drugs to provide for Adam, which landed him in prison with a manslaughter charge. Dee lets Taylor use his phone to contact Adam, also sending Adam a pair of shoes via his friend on the outside as a present from Taylor. Frustrated with how Dee has taken away their control over the prison's drug trade, Gaz and Paul violently attack and beat him unconscious while Taylor stands back helpless. Afterwards, the pair force Taylor to punch Dee, filming it to share around the prison. Dee is taken to the hospital to recover.
Upon Dee’s return, he attacks Taylor for not backing him up. Taylor is forced to become a mule for Dee, collecting drug drops from the courtyard. While running a drop over to Dee, Taylor is stopped by Gaz and his associates. Their attempts to get Taylor to give them the drugs are stopped when Dee attacks them all, inciting a riot among the prisoners. Tensions further escalate when Gaz and Paul post a video inciting other prisoners to kill Dee in exchange for money. At the same time, Taylor starts to go cold turkey on the drugs.
After forcing Taylor to steal a knife from the kitchen, Dee blackmails Taylor into going to kill Gaz and Paul with it, claiming that Dee will get his friends on the outside to kill Adam if Taylor does not go through with it. A day before Taylor is set to be released, he cooks Dee a meal before leaving to kill Gaz and Paul mid-haircut. Taylor, however, does not go through with it, returning to his cell to find Dee having overdosed on the drugs he had spiked his food with. Dee realises what has happened, and after a brief fight, he slumps over, exhausted. Taylor shares his joint with Dee before Dee dies. The next morning Taylor sets Dee up in his bed to make it look as if Dee overdosed in the night. Later that day, Taylor is released, and a prisoner films him leaving the grounds.
The film is directed by Cal McMau and written by Hunter Andrews and Eoin Doran. It is produced by Bankside Films and produced by Sophia Gibber and Myles Payne of Agile Films with Philip Barantini and Samantha Beddoe’s It’s All Made Up Productions and Hoopsa Films.[2]
It was to be distributed by A24.
The film was planned to be directed by the Safdie brothers, but the Safdies decided to make Uncut Gems instead.[3]
The cast is led by David Jonsson and Tom Blyth and also includes Alex Hassell, Corin Silva and Neil Linpow.[4] [5]
Principal photography took place in London and Somerset in the summer of 2024.[6] [7] Filming locations included Shepton Mallet Prison.[8]
Cinematography was by Lorenzo Levrini.[9]
The film's original score is composed and produced by British artist Matthew Barnes, known as Forest Swords.[10]
The film premiered in the Centrepiece programme at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.[11] The film was released in the United Kingdom on 20 February 2026.[12]
The Upcoming wrote, "In an immersive journey, Wasteman escalates from gritty prison drama to pulse-pounding suspense, powered by its remarkable co-leads firing on all cylinders."[15]
Critics at RogerEbert.com said, "there’s a spark that the film gains from these two young performers that's never extinguished."[16]
| Award / Festival | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| British Independent Film Awards | 30 November 2025 | Best Lead Performance | David Jonsson | [17] | |
| Best Supporting Performance | Tom Blyth | ||||
| Best Music Supervision | Phil Canning | ||||
| Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) | Cal McMau | ||||
| Best Debut Screenwriter | Hunter Andrews and Eoin Doran | ||||
