Synopsis
Some debts are paid in blood.
When their employer tries to cheat them out of a job, a rugged crew of workmen turn first on him then each other, leading to a bloody confrontation.
2020 Directed by Will Jewell
When their employer tries to cheat them out of a job, a rugged crew of workmen turn first on him then each other, leading to a bloody confrontation.
Planos Concretos, Plac destrukcji, Beton Planlar, Железобетонные планы, 锯体计划
With a premise of tensions running high between a gang of builders arriving to work on a posh couple's barn conversion in the estate of a remote Welsh manor, I was expecting this to play out like a modern take on Straw Dogs. My expectations were subverted! It's true that heir to the family pile, Simon, has a pretty young wife and a tendency to that rub people up the wrong way but unlike David Sumner, he's no shrinking violet. Quite the opposite: his fiery temper brings him into conflict with Bob's gang almost immediately and the first half of the film sees the animosity between the two parties slowly heat up to boiling point. It's not just focused on…
Tense, twisty, bloody, portaloo shit covered man. More sick Welsh thrillers please!
Contractors and a dickhead employer but heads and things violently spiral out of control .. I expected this to be funnier but it was dark and fucked up enough to enjoy either way .. it’s a gritty, brutal, twisted good crime film…
I was also super excited to see that Phil hartnoll of orbital scored this ! 😍🎉
Tense, dark, and gritty British thriller that sees five contractors butt heads with their shady stuck up employer after he tries to skip out on paying them. Things escalate beyond repair as the contractors grow increasingly irritable with their situation and as well as eachother. Which leads to some violent confrontations. It was a solid watch but it could've been bloodier.
*Available via Amazon Prime*
In writer/director Will Jewell's feature debut, Kevin Guthrie stars as an arrogant posh landowner who incurs the murderous wrath of his builders when his contempt for them extends to him attempting to do a bunk without paying them. That's Kevin Guthrie, the young Scottish actor currently serving three years for sexual assault of a vulnerable woman. Both he and his character deserve all they get.
Unfortunately, I wanted to like Concrete Plans more than I actually did. It's got a good cast and an interesting premise, but I feel that Jewell doesn't explore either well enough. The escalation of events doesn't ring true (his pacing perhaps betraying his experience with short length films where expediency is required) whilst the decision…
This was surprisingly good. Although the poster makes it look like a horror film, this is really a thriller set against the backdrop of class tensions in the UK, set in Wales. A ragtag group of laborers are hired by a wealthy arrogant jerk/finance bro to renovate his rural inherited estate. When he keeps delaying payment, they get angrier and things come to a nasty head.
A first feature by director Will Jewell, he assembled a great British cast, mostly unknown to me. I really liked the rivalries and tensions between the laborers, which include a Ukrainian immigrant, a crook on the run and an elderly Communist. The young yuppie couple who own the estate are privileged and clueless but…
Will Jewell’s thriller. When five builders come together to renovate a sprawling farmhouse in the remote Welsh mountains, things spiral into dire territory.
High in the isolated Welsh mountains, a quintet of builders is brought together to modernise a sprawling old farmhouse. Contained in rotten portacabins, it isn’t long before tensions rumble between the men and the self-entitled aristocratic proprietor (Kevin Guthrie), as well as among the rag tag group of men themselves.
Bored old timer Dave (William Thomas) and friendly Foreman Bob (Steve Speirs) attempt to keep order. However, his nephew Steve (Charley Palmer Rothwell) falls under the damaging effect of bigot Jim (Chris Reilly), the pair taking an aversion to Viktor (Gorgan Bodgan), a Ukrainian manual worker.
As…
Tense independent thriller involving a group of builders hired by a crooked landowner to work on his rural Welsh Valleys estate as part of a tax dodge. Things take a turn when wages aren't paid and it's discovered there was never any intention to pay.
Although the characters fall into characature; criminal, immigrant, working class, young, old, rich and some of their early confrontations feel forced, Concrete Plans is a nice feature debut from Will Jewell filled with effective claustrophobic angst.
Luckily in my time as a trades person I've not had many problems with people refusing to pay. Some like to look down their noses at contractors, automatically assuming they're out to rip them off. But you're way more likely to be ripped off by a rich person. You don't accumulate a significant amount of wealth without exploiting a significant amount of people along the way.
Talk about cutting tension with a knife. I think my living room was just surrounded in it throughout each fantastic minute of the brilliant CONCRETE PLANS that just screened at Frightfest. Aesthetically pleasing to the max with stunning Welsh landscapes and a beautifully constructed score. The cast are tight, on edge and powerful in what they bring to the screen, they convey vast emotion and genuine terror through each unpredictable moment. My brain kept thinking we were steering down one path but then the film would take over and take me down somewhere totally unexpected. A gritty Brit thriller that delivers in spades, dirt and blood. This one can easily consume you as you hang on every scene and I certainly welcomed it.
Interesting little British/Welsh film. Well scripted, a little flabby at the start, but tightens up in the last act where everyone plans to betray everyone else.
An enjoyable watch, a few plot twists, nothing too taxing on the brain.
You could find worse ways to spend 91 minutes.