John Wilson's Sundance documentary "The History of Concrete" is playing at Coral Gables Art Cinema through Thursday, Oct. 8, with two screenings remaining.

The eight-screening run opened Friday, Oct. 2. Both remaining screenings include a prerecorded conversation between Wilson and filmmaker Josh Safdie, co-director of "Uncut Gems" and an executive producer of "The History of Concrete." Tickets cost $8 for cinema members and up to $12.75 for nonmembers, according to the cinema's program page.

Hallmark formula leads to unexpected detours

The 101-minute film is Wilson's feature debut after three seasons of HBO's "How To with John Wilson." It starts with a simple premise: Wilson attends a workshop on writing Hallmark movies, then tries to apply that commercial formula to a documentary about concrete. The plan unravels quickly.

Wilson's detours take him to ancient Roman concrete, an early concrete street in Ohio and a New York business that scrapes chewing gum off sidewalks. One segment follows a company that preserves tattoos removed from people's bodies after they die. Timothée Chalamet, Nathan Fielder, Michael Imperioli and Safdie are among the familiar faces who appear along the way.

Wilson uses his signature second-person narration style, saying "you" instead of "I" to pull viewers into his perspective. In a Sept. 21 interview with It's Nice That, Wilson said the film is "more about impermanence and routine and cyclical behavior, and also the kind of structures that we need to produce art and exist in the world as normal people."

Sundance premiere leads to theatrical release

The documentary premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival in January. Magnolia Pictures acquired North American rights in March and began its theatrical rollout Sept. 18.

IndieWire gave the film an A-minus, calling it "a moving and hilarious meditation on death." The Guardian called it "an absurd triumph."

The two remaining screenings, both featuring the prerecorded conversation with Wilson and Safdie, are Tuesday, Oct. 6, at 7:45 p.m. and Thursday, Oct. 8, at 5:30 p.m.

Coral Gables Art Cinema is at 260 Aragon Ave.