Lionsgate has now released a new trailer for Wasteman, a U.K. crime thriller starring Alien Romulus’ David Jonsson and Billy the Kid actor Tom Blyth. In the new trailer, the movie is amassing buzz with pulled quotes that say it’s “Tense, raw and very brutal.” Another critic gave the film five stars and said the movie is “The new best prison film of all time.” Another critic waxed some poetry about it, saying it “feels like a rave coursing with relentless energy.” Jonsson and Blyth are also gaining recognition with a quote saying they give “two powerhouse performances.”
In Wasteman, a parolee, Taylor (Jonsson), whose fresh start hopes are jeopardized by cellmate Dee’s (Blyth) 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.
Cal McMau directs Wasteman from a script by Hunter Andrews and Eoin Doran. Previously, the film screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, with a write-up on the event’s official site saying, “McMau peels back the conventions of the prison drama to reveal something raw, intimate, and unsettling. Set within a claustrophobic and often brutal UK prison, Wasteman conjures a world where hyper-masculinity is identity and armour, and where even a flicker of vulnerability can be fatal.”
“At its heart is Taylor (David Jonsson, Rye Lane, Industry), a soft-spoken inmate serving a crushing sentence for a petty crime,” the TIFF preview continues. “He survives by becoming invisible: cutting hair, avoiding trouble, and occasionally numbing the monotony with pills, all the while clinging to faint memories of the son he hasn’t seen since infancy. Jonsson delivers a performance of remarkable restraint, each gesture seemingly shaped by years of swallowed pain.”
The movie made its world premiere at this year’s TIFF and is set to hit cinemas on February 20.
What did you think of this new trailer? Are you excited to check it out early next year in theaters? Do you think this will be a breakthrough performance in David Jonsson’s career? We want to hear from you! Sound off in the comments below!
