Wasteman: Release date news, cast details and more about the upcoming crime drama starring Tom Blyth

Cal McMau's debut feature film Wasteman is described as a "violent pressure cooker thriller" by Alex Ritman of Variety, and it's true when you see the film's trailer. Once you see it, you'll feel like the pressure is full and the cooker's lid is about to pop. But then the trailer ends. So now you have to wait for it to release in theaters, which isn't happening until next year.

The film already had its premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, garnering praise from the critics. Though there aren't enough reviews on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes for it to give a Tomatometer score, the available ones are fresh. So, think of this film as 100% fresh for now.

We have two rising talents in the movie: David Jonsson and Tom Blyth, in the leading roles. Other than them, Corin Silva, Alex Hassell, Neil Linpow, and more are in the movie. Screenplay is co-written by Hunter Andrews and Eoin Doran.

We will now see what we know of this film.

When is Wasteman releasing?

A still from Wasteman. (Image via Lionsgate)

The film is currently set for a release in the United Kingdom on February 20, 2026. No other British film is releasing other than Wasteman on the day, but the month has got four more movies coming.

First, it's the comedy horror film called Cold Storage starring Liam Neeson, who recently had us dead laughing in the latest installment of the spoof comedy franchise The Naked Gun, releasing on February 6.

Then there's the Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie starrer film Wuthering Heights, releasing on February 13. Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo starrer Crime 101 will release on the same day.

Lastly, it will be How to Make a Killing, starring Glen Powell, who recently appeared in The Running Man. It will be releasing on February 20.

The cast of Wasteman

You can see the actors appearing in the film below:

Tom Blyth as Dee
David Jonsson as Taylor
Neil Linpow as Robby
Alex Hassell as Paul
Corin Silva as Gaz
Keaton Ancona-Francis as Stu
Layton Black as Maxi
Paul Hilton as Browning
Jack Barker as Cook up Prisoner
Chay Faraday-Browne as Poke Bowl
Callan Farrow as the prison inmate twin
Kyle Farrow as Twin
Cole Martin as Adam
Shaun Shifty Parker as a shifty old released prisoner
Robert Rhodes as Scrawny Prisoner
Lunga Skosana as a nurse.

Darren Clayton, Fred Muthui, and Mark Rainsbury also appear in uncredited roles in the film.

What is Wasteman about?

A simple gist of this pressure cooker thriller is that a man is trying to get an early release from prison but a new cellmate has made this a bit harder for him. Now he has two choices. Either he can protect his bond with his new cellmate or choose parole by letting the authorities take care of his cellmate.

You can watch the trailer of the film that dropped a few hours ago on YouTube and has garnered 29k views as of this writing.