Concrete Plans

Standard concrete mix for bricklaying is 1 part cement, 2 parts sand and 4 parts gravel with a splash of water to bind it together. 1 part Straw Dogs, 2 parts Blood Simple and 4 parts Emmerdale bound together by a splash of dramatic irony gets you Concrete Plans, a fine new feature length debut from writer/director Will Jewell.

The next 3 months are going to be hellish for Bob (Steve Speirs), the foreman of a group of builders tasked with renovating a pair of farm outhouses in a remote part of Wales. He's up to his neck in debt, he's wary of the ability of his employer to pay him and he's taken on his scumbag nephew Steve (Charley Palmer Rothwell) as part of his crew. Also along are Jim (Chris Reilly), a Scotsman who's hiding a secret, Viktor (Goran Bogdan), a Ukrainian who's been away from home for far too long and Dave (William Thomas), the homebird building site veteran. Their new boss is Simon (Kevin Guthrie), an ex soldier with financial matters on his mind and his wife Amy (Amber Rose Revah) who's far friendlier than he is. The work is messy and tough, the accommodation sucks, the weather is miserable but the financial rewards will make it all worthwhile. They hope.

From it's ominous overhead beginning and the bloody flashforwards we glimpse it's clear from the off that Concrete Plans isn't going to have a happy ending but we get to have plenty of fun on it's journey into darkness. It nails the ways men can act when women aren't around to temper their baser instincts and how unfiltered behaviour can lead to all manner of madness, especially when toxic masculinity and a fear of straying from the herd comes into the mix. Despite differing ages and backgrounds we watch as our wild bunch does exactly what we know they'll do while letting themselves led by the nose down some darkly comic alleys. Emphasis on the word dark. Best of all is we don't have to wait too long for it to happen. By the midway point the stall is set out and the rest of the film is all about the nightmarish aftermath.

Classism is what kicks everything off. To Steve, these builders are little more than shit on his shoe, he's living in luxury while they pile into a stinking mobile home with no access to indoor plumbing. His contempt is obvious from the off and they can all feel it, giving the film sense of tension you can really get your teeth into, a tension that builds until it inevitably boils over in a scene of brutal, but not dwelt on violence. In lesser hands the gore of the situation would be reveled in but thankfully Concrete Plans is confident enough to show it's effects on it's characters instead. Some love it, some are horrified by it and for others it's just another day at work. 

For Victor it's another obstacle in his journey home and Goran Bogdan nails his desperation as a decent man trapped in a cement dusted nightmare. Charley Palmer Rothwell's Steve is a particularly memorable and despicable piece of work, one we've all bumped into at one stage or another and Steve Speirs does very solid work as a Bob, quiet desperation scrawled across him as he tries to prevent both personal and professional breakdowns. It's only at the other side of the class divide can you find fault, with Kevin Guthrie's Simon being almost too broad, feeling like a caricature against the more deftly sketched builders. The second he appears onscreen you can tell what way the story is going to go. It doesn't ruin the film although it does take away from it slightly. But it gives us a lovely Blood Simple homage too. A moment that will genuinely stick with you. #Shudder

Concrete Plans is out soon. It's worth your time.