Netflix has just added the best British thriller of the year hailed as "unmissable"

Wasteman, the acclaimed British thriller starring David Jonsson and Tom Blyth, is now trending on Netflix after being added to the streamer over the weekend. Hailed as one of the best films of the year, this is one you won't want to miss.

The thriller sees Jonsson portray Taylor, an incarcerated prisoner who has been behind bars for over a decade. He gets some good news, though, as he is eligible for early release if he maintains good behaviour.

His plans are potentially scuppered, however, following the arrival of the volatile Dee (Blyth). With the new inmate causing trouble everywhere, Taylor is backed into a corner that he struggles to escape from.

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Directed by Cal McMau from a screenplay by Hunter Andrews and Eoin Doran, the film was added to Netflix on Sunday (20 September), and has already climbed to the top of the streamer's film chart in the UK.

In addition to Jonsson and Blyth, the stellar cast for the drama includes Rivals star Alex Hassell, Corin Silva, Neil Linpow, Paul Hilton and Layton Blake. Philip Barantini, known for Boiling Point and Adolescence, serves as a producer.

After premiering at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September 2025, Wasteman was released theatrically in February, and it has been acclaimed by critics as it secured a rare 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 53 reviews.

In Digital Spy's preview of the film, we called it "brilliant" and "unmissable", while Slant Magazine noted: "Wasteman illustrates why a powerful paradox about prisons makes them such a popular staging ground for psychodramas."

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"Even if it doesn't fully probe the socio-political realities of the prison experience, Wasteman succeeds as an emotional survival tale. Here's a film that proves that sometimes, the most terrifying part of prison can just be who you're locked up with," opined Time Out.

Little White Lies was also full of praise, writing: "Wasteman, the debut feature film from director Cal McMau, is exceptionally gritty, brutal and claustrophobic; its tight shots give us nowhere to escape to when violence ensues."

Wasteman is streaming now on Netflix.

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Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media.  His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.