Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: WASTEMAN [Toronto International Film Festival 2025 - Toronto, Canada]
The aspect of a trap is an interesting psychological play in which to work on. Any act of kindness can be thwarted into a betrayal. This is in a way what makes "Wasteman" [Centrepiece] moderately engrossing. The reason to watch is the anchoring of two very strong actors who at this point are known for different things. While this subject matter is an interesting shift for both of them, the primality it displays, most significantly with Tom Blyth's alpha male Dee registers on a different level. Having talked to Blyth for both his standout "Billy The Kid" TV role as well as "The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes" this kind of brutalist has not quite been shown before in his repertoire. He cuts a supremely menacing physical form and can shift between brooding, charming and inherently deadly. Jonsson (known for his breakout in "Alien: Romulus" on the other hand plays a man just trying to be invisible and yet undeniably knowing that there is not really an escape for him despite his best intentions. While the UK prison system is different in certain ways than the American one, the life it shoes is that it is just as easy to get caught up inside as it is outside. Everyone is in for a reason. it is just a matter if they don't become a pawn in someone else's scheme.
Blyth's Dee is a man out for himself but with little control for rage and retribution when it takes him over. The close ups on his eyes paint a terrifying picture which is part of the point with Jonsson's response. Jonsson's character Taylor is not necessarily a frightened animal but knows when he is in over his head. This is why as the film progresses it brings into adequate focus the dire choices Taylor has to make because all roads lead to ruin and certain shifts don't always go according to plan. Director Cal McMau plays to the claustrophobia with most of the scenes taking place in one cell which gives the film both texture and a sense of dread. This cell can be a place of comfort or even more so a prison. Intimidation of course is a form of power and that thematic resonates in cadence throughout the film. There are other hunters about but it is about those closest in the pack, that negate one's sense of belonging. "Wasteman" understands this and uses this as a device to the very end. B
By Tim Wassberg
