The History of Concrete opens at IFC Center on Friday, September 18. John Wilson attends a class on selling a Hallmark movie, then attempts to apply its lessons to a documentary about concrete. It is an excellent premise for someone whose curiosity tends to travel sideways. The film runs 101 minutes. IFC’s film page
Two new reviews make the choice clearer. Peter Martin’s September 15 ScreenAnarchy review finds a funny, warm-hearted film whose apparently stray encounters accumulate emotional weight. Matt Oakes, writing a day earlier, gives it a B+ but thinks some digressions stretch thinner without the tighter shape of Wilson’s television episodes. That is a useful disagreement about form: whether more time with this sensibility is a pleasure in itself, or whether the editing needs to impose a firmer limit. ScreenAnarchy, Silver Screen Riot
I would lean toward the pleasure. The combination of close observation, an absurd organizing idea and genuine interest in strangers sounds like a good cinema outing. You do not need to acquire an interest in building materials first. The caveat is the wandering: this is not a tightly plotted comedy, and the second review gives a fair reason to wonder whether the feature length occasionally exposes the seams.
The Q&As are already sold out. IFC marks all the opening-weekend discussions that way, including appearances involving Edy Modica, Rachel Kaly and Sarah Sherman. Ordinary screenings are also listed, but the ticket site blocked access before I could verify prices or selectable inventory. Keep the film, rather than the prospect of a Q&A, as the reason to check the showtimes.