The History of Concrete

When most people think about concrete, they think about the obvious stuff: The color gray. New York City. Why it’s generally a bad idea to jump off tall buildings. When John Wilson thinks about concrete, the erstwhile star of HBO’s “How to With John Wilson” thinks about…

davidehrlich

Right as this characteristically sprawling, digressive and endlessly curious thing is finally bearing narrative and thematic fruit, intercutting monks ritually smearing a Buddhist mandala with a ceremony celebrating the passage of a NYC affordable housing program, we also…

matt lynch

There’s a reveal in this, where John Wilson, at a party being thrown for Kim Kardashian, whip pans to show a surprise attendee. It’s one of the best scenes of the year.

Robert Daniels

THE HISTORY OF CONCRETE is an absolutely hilarious, make-it-as-you-go DIY documentary from John Wilson, following his struggle to secure financing and find the overall identity of a film about concrete. Along the way, he discovers that the true foundation of both his movie…

Matt Neglia

At one point during the screening a lady was walking up and down the aisle with the torch of her phone on, looking for something on the floor. My first instinct was to be grumpy with her, for distracting me from the film - but then I thought about all the little moments…

Zachary Ruane

transformative because john's curiosity is so infectious. it makes you want to leave the film and sit and observe and find intrigue in the cracks in the path, which is a feat in an age of constant assault on our senses and the destruction of boredom. hes so important to me…

Girl ross

John Wilson fans, rejoice. As with the show, it starts out about one thing and kinda becomes about everything.

Brian Tallerico

Wilson has a knack for discovery and awakening the beauty of everyday people. It’s a cliche to say but I don’t think there’s a better celebrator of the extraordinary of the ordinary. History of Concrete is amongst his most special and best examples of exactly that.  It…

Alexei Toliopoulos

I reviewed John Wilson’s feature debut for Slant Magazine. It’s Wilson doing his thing — who would want it any different? But the feature runtime allows him to, most impressively, mimic the structure of concrete on a formal level. It’s about so much (impermanence of art,…

Taylor Williams