Concrete Plans

Stars: Goran Bogdan, Steve Speirs, Chris Reilly, Charley Palmer Rothwell, William Thomas, Amber Rose Revah, Kevin Guthrie, James Lance

Director: William Jewell

A very slow-burning Welsh drama in which five ill-assorted construction workers find themselves in a beautiful but remote location in the Welsh hills, where tightly-wired ex-army man Simon (Guthrie) has hired them to renovate the sprawling old farmhouse that adjoins his property.

But Simon has money worries, and is waiting on an impending inheritance to pay for the job. The labourers - East European Viktor (Bosnian actor Bogdan), old-timer Dave (Thomas), the dangerous Jim (Reilly), burly, balding foreman Bob (Speirs) and his violently delinquent nephew Steve (Rothwell) - are soon restless.

This is not the sort of crew you want to welsh on paying.

We can tell that all hell is going to break loose here - doomy music underlines the probability - but the film is too slow for too long before it does so, in scenes of appalling violence that might have come close to earning an 18 certificate. The acting is immaculate all round, even if too-often whispered or murmured dialogue makes it difficult to follow the intricacies of the plot.

David Quinlan

UK (Wales) 2020. UK Distributor: Signature. Colour (uncredited).
91 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 3, Drugs 0, Swearing 3.

Review date: 22 Nov 2020