In a remote area of Wales, Simon (Kevin Guthrie) has decided to refurbish the ancestral home he shares with his wife Amy (Amber Rose Revah) as part of a tax dodge on the advice of his slimy accountant Richard (James Lance). To do this he’s hired a building team which includes gentle giant Bob (Simon Speirs), aggressive Jim (Chris Reilly), old hardman Dave (William Thomas), tag-along Steve (Charley Palmer Rothwell) and Ukrainian immigrant Viktor (Goran Bogdan).
Unfortunately, after months of being cramped in tiny living quarters and with Simon dodging the monthly payments (and not helping himself by being a massive jerk), tensions are soon ramped up and things start getting dangerous for everyone.
Concrete Plans has an impressive cast (especially Speirs who gallantly tries to keep things under control while facing some harsh personal revelations), and the acting is largely great. However, the characters’ actions feel forced and when the inevitable cooking pot boils over, its consequences seem unrealistic. The script, too, is clunky and over-simplistic – gushing out clichés and spelling out the characters’ thoughts without giving audiences any credit. Not that those thoughts are anything extraordinary, as the characters are largely caricatures, neatly slotting into the class boxes they’ve been given. There is a nice twist at the end though that we genuinely didn’t see coming.
Concrete Plan’s premise is its most intriguing element. The idea of a tension-filled horror about a group of strangers forced into tight confines by an overbearing boss is compelling. So it’s a shame Concrete Plans doesn’t pull that off. In fact, it feels more like a Sunday afternoon TV drama than the gritty horror it should be.
Signature Entertainment Presents Concrete Plans on all Digital Platforms from 23rd November.
