Netflix’s 90-Minute Prison Thriller Has a Perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes Score — and Viewers Say Its Ending Is Impossible to See Coming

Netflix has added a brutal new prison thriller that requires just 90 minutes of your time — but critics say there isn’t a wasted second.

Wasteman, directed by Cal McMau, has earned a perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating in the supplied report, with early reactions praising its relentless tension, claustrophobic atmosphere and two commanding central performances.

One assessment even hailed it as “one of the best prison dramas in years.”

And for viewers tired of sprawling three-hour movies, its stripped-back runtime might make it an especially tempting Friday-night watch.

Thirteen Years Behind Bars — With Freedom Finally Within Reach

David Jonsson, known for Industry, stars as Taylor, a passive drug addict who has spent 13 years in prison.

For the first time in more than a decade, freedom is close.

Taylor discovers that he could be released on parole within weeks.

There is only one condition that really matters.

He needs to stay out of trouble.

That might sound achievable until Dee arrives.

Played by Tom Blyth, Dee is Taylor’s intimidating new cellmate — an aggressively dominant figure determined to seize control of the prison’s drug operation regardless of the consequences.

Suddenly, Taylor’s final weeks behind bars become considerably more dangerous.

The Prison Feels Almost Impossible to Escape

Much of Wasteman‘s impact comes from the way it traps the audience inside Taylor’s environment.

The film combines conventional widescreen cinematography with rough mobile-phone footage supposedly captured by prisoners themselves.

That visual contrast helps make the prison feel less like a movie set and more like an unstable world the viewer has accidentally entered.

Meanwhile, the officers surrounding the inmates appear overstretched, outnumbered and overwhelmed.

The result is an atmosphere where danger never feels far away.

Even when nothing is happening, the possibility that something could erupt hangs over every scene.

Critics Praise Its Relentless 90-Minute Runtime

The film’s compact length has also attracted praise.

Rather than stretching its premise across several hours, Wasteman compresses Taylor’s increasingly desperate situation into a lean 90-minute story.

One Rotten Tomatoes reviewer described it as “an intense, violent and utterly gripping ride from the off,” particularly praising the use of mobile-phone footage for making events feel more immediate and authentic.

Another praised the performances of both leads and the film’s slick direction before highlighting one final element:

“What an ending!”

That ending appears to be crucial to the experience.

The story initially seems straightforward enough to make viewers believe they know exactly where Taylor and Dee’s increasingly volatile relationship is heading.

According to the supplied review, that assumption may be a mistake.

David Jonsson and Tom Blyth Drive the Tension

At the center of everything are Jonsson and Blyth, playing two men whose circumstances immediately put them on a collision course.

Taylor has everything to lose with parole approaching.

Dee enters the cell determined to establish power.

That simple conflict gives Wasteman its ticking clock: Taylor has survived 13 years inside, yet the final few weeks could prove the most dangerous.

With its 100% Rotten Tomatoes score, 90-minute runtime and an ending already leaving viewers stunned, the film offers a tightly contained alternative to the increasingly oversized blockbuster.

Taylor only needs to stay out of trouble for a few more weeks. His new cellmate makes that almost impossible — and the direction their story ultimately takes is the part viewers are being warned not to underestimate.

Wasteman is streaming on Netflix.