Wasteman (2026) poster
2026 · crime · drama · thriller

Wasteman

Directed by Cal McMau1h 31m2026
ElsewhereIMDb7.33kRT100%Metacritic75
  • heavy
  • extreme
  • twisty
Movie DNA

Heavy, steady, extreme crime / drama, grounded in texture. Ambivalent, mid-stakes, measured, hand-scored across twelve axes of taste.

How every film is hand-scored →

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.

Our read · Wasteman (2026) reads as a heavy, steady, grounded crime · drama · thriller entry — extreme in intensity, mid-stakes in scope, measured in temperature, ambivalent in outlook. Hand-scored on twelve axes of taste — mood, pacing, weirdness, hope, stakes, humour, reality, density, warmth, auteur, intensity, and era — with a derived palette drawn from its dominant cinematography.

Where the cast leads
Where to watch
Not on streaming here right now.Check JustWatch Check Letterboxd
More info & search links
Fingerprint

The shape of Wasteman

Tonight, this looks like

What watching it is actually like.

You want a brutal British prison drama about fragile post-parole bonds.

ends unsettlingit leaves you shakensteady all the waygrips by minute 10attention 4/5earns its length
Date nightWith friendsSoloWith parentsKids around
Heads-upgraphic violencedrug use

Skip it tonightSkip if intense prison violence and addiction stories will ruin your night.

DNA · twelve axes

The reading.

Each axis is hand-scored — not derived from votes or genre averages. The marker shows where this film sits; the gradient fill uses the film's own cinematography palette.

Mood · HeavyCosy
Pacing · Slow-burnKinetic
Intensity · GentleExtreme
Weirdness · ConventionalSurreal
Hope · NihilisticRedemptive
Stakes · IntimateEpic
Humour · NoneBroad
Reality · GroundedFantastical
Density · SparseTwisty
Warmth · ColdTender
Auteur · TransparentSignature
Your take
Rate it
star-clip-1-0star-clip-2-0star-clip-3-0star-clip-4-0star-clip-5-0
React
Discussion

Discussion

cmd enter to post

What does your Movie DNA look like?

Rate a few films you've seen. We map your taste across the same twelve axes and find the films you'll actually want to watch tonight.

Calibrate yourself