In his feature film debut, acclaimed documentarian John Wilson has turned his gaze toward the material that quietly underpins modern society: concrete. Released following an advance screening, The History of Concrete follows the filmmaker as he journeys to Italy to uncover why ancient Roman structures endure while contemporary buildings decay, ultimately using the humble building material as a lens to examine the crumbling infrastructure and mounting anxieties of the 21st century. Where his HBO series once chased whimsical questions, this big-screen effort trades comedy for a meditation on decay, patching, and what it means to trust the foundations beneath our feet.
Wilson is best known for his critically acclaimed HBO series How To with John Wilson, in which he would pose a simple question and follow the answer wherever it led. In one episode, his quest to learn how to watch sports ended at the Olympic games for vacuum cleaners; in another, his search for better wine bottles led him unannounced into the Floridian compound of a charismatic energy drink mogul. For The History of Concrete, the filmmaker faced a twofold problem: he no longer had a television show, and he did not know what his documentary should be about. When the foundations of his home began to fissure and his attempts to patch the leak failed to impress, he decided to learn more about the material used to build modern civilization — and perhaps even master it.
A Roman Secret That Modern Concrete Lacks
The film’s intellectual anchor traces back to a local bartender who explained how ancient Romans achieved their legendary durability. Through a very particular limestone heating process, the concrete used in antiquity was not only sturdy but self-repairing, which is why so many of their mega-structures continue to tower over the Mediterranean today. Wilson traveled to Italy in search of this same knowledge, though unable to speak the language, he mostly marveled at unique McDonald’s locations and how quickly a wax museum incorporated artificial intelligence. He might have saved some money by visiting a Canadian dive bar instead of Europe, but the strange side quests have always been the point.
Along the way, Wilson takes viewers to many uncanny and incredibly funny places. He shadows a specialist in chewing gum removal, samples his in-house wine label, and keeps up with a spiritualist jogging movement that runs around a city block for two uninterrupted months. He attends a Las Vegas concrete trade show, where niche futurists imagine how we might mix cement on the Moon, and speaks with NIMBYs, civil servants, Hallmark Channel producers, teenagers, and tattoo artists — all while trying to figure out how to ultimately sell the movie he is currently watching.
While it doesn’t wrap things up as nicely as his HBO series, The History of Concrete discovers a foundational metaphor for modern anxieties.
Review of The History of Concrete
Like his series, Wilson exposes audiences to amazing visions, constructing picaresque visual poetry drawn from a collection of unstaged New York moments. Concrete may be the strongest material for this purpose. While the Romans made theirs tough, the modern equivalent can barely go a few years without showing its age. Concrete fractures and fissures; patching it leaves gashes and scars. All around us, buildings are stapled back together with rusted metal bolts and packing tape. It is so vulgar but so ubiquitous that we barely register it anymore — yet it amounts to a sensation that things are crumbling beneath our feet.
Community Reaction and a Missing Ribbon
The film’s biggest failing, according to critics, is that it is a poor entry point for newcomers hoping to be introduced to John Wilson’s world. The ribbon he usually ties everything together feels missing, especially as he grows increasingly distracted by a local metal singer with an oddly high-profile fiancée. But the material is all there. The film is composed of paradoxical enigmas: how can an acclaimed documentarian sit across the Kardashians at dinner engagements while his royalty checks fail to cover dipping sauce? How can communities grow and thrive when they refuse to sacrifice a blade of grass for Tony Hawk’s public skate park?
It is not a mystery once you compile the atrophy. The central question Wilson raises is one that resonates far beyond the walls of any building: how can you trust the future, find excitement for the new, when the existing foundation is straining? In that sense, The History of Concrete is less a documentary about cement than a portrait of an era learning to live with the cracks it cannot afford to ignore.
Looking Ahead
As Wilson’s first feature film, The History of Concrete marks a significant creative pivot from the tightly structured, laugh-out-loud episodes of his HBO series toward a more sprawling, contemplative tone. While the film may not satisfy every longtime fan, its ambitious scope and willingness to confront uncomfortable truths about infrastructure, community, and trust position it as a notable chapter in Wilson’s evolving body of work. For audiences drawn to his signature blend of humor and human curiosity, the documentary offers a fresh perspective — one that proves even the most mundane materials can reveal the deepest questions of our time.
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