It stars an ensemble cast that includes Mel Gibson, Vince Vaughn, Tory Kittles, Michael Jai White, Jennifer Carpenter, Laurie Holden, Fred Melamed, Thomas Kretschmann, and Don Johnson.

Zahler started working on Dragged Across Concrete right after he finished development of his previous film Brawl in Cell Block 99, which also starred Vaughn, Carpenter, Johnson, and Kier.

It premiered at the 75th Venice International Film Festival on September 3, 2018, and received a limited theatrical and video-on-demand simultaneous release from Summit Entertainment on March 22, 2019.

In the fictional city of Bulwark, recent parolee Henry Johns chastises his mother for returning to prostitution and taking drugs, before reuniting with his handicapped younger brother Ethan.

Both detectives are desperate for money, with Ridgeman needing cash to move to a safer neighborhood for his family, while Lurasetti stalls in proposing to his girlfriend Denise.

On a tip from Friedrich, a wealthy businessman with criminal connections, Ridgeman recruits Lurasetti to help him surveil and rob Lorentz Vogelmann, a professional thief.

On February 1, 2017, right after finishing production of his previous film Brawl in Cell Block 99, S. Craig Zahler signed to direct Dragged Across Concrete, a crime thriller based on police brutality, from a screenplay he had written.

[13] Zahler exemplifies Brett Ridgeman, one of the characters in the film, is "an embittered guy, not really happy with his station in life, and with a heavy hand, and doing some stuff that he shouldn’t be doing, and he’s suspended" and trying to get himself out of the hole that he dug with all of these mistakes.

[8] On August 2, 2017, Jennifer Carpenter and Don Johnson, who had worked with Zahler in Brawl in Cell Block 99, signed onto the film, followed by Tory Kittles, Michael Jai White, Tattiawna Jones, and Laurie Holden.

[19] Zahler wanted Dragged Across Concrete to be seen as realistic by the audience, filming an actual car collision on set for one of the scenes rather than supplemented in the editing room.

[20] Dragged Across Concrete is less violent than Zahler's previous films Bone Tomahawk and Brawl in Cell Block 99 due to the difference in weapons and fighting styles utilized by the characters.

[8] The film's soundtrack was composed by S. Craig Zahler and his friend Jeff Herriott, having previously worked together in Bone Tomahawk and Brawl in Cell Block 99.

The website's consensus reads, "As grim and grinding as its title, Dragged Across Concrete opts for slow-burning drama instead of high-speed thrills — and has just the right cast to make it work.

[33] Kevin Maher of The Times gave the film four out of five stars, writing: "in this new, bleak and often unexpectedly grand genre movie (it’s essentially a buddy cop flick, but with operatic ambitions), the thread out of place, both irritably scratching and strangely arresting, is Mel Gibson.

"[34] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian also rated Dragged Across Concrete four out of five stars, stating: "this is a long film, but there is something so horribly compelling about its unhurried slouch towards the precipice.

"[35] David Fear of Rolling Stone awarded the film a three and a half out of five stars, praising Gibson's performance and the world-building: "Dragged Across Concrete is apt to send crime-film fanatics, especially ones who prefer their pulp nasty, brutish and incredibly long, into frothing fits of glee.

"[36] Kieran Fisher of Film School Rejects praised the dialogue interactions between the detectives, Kittles' performance, and Zahler's intention to challenge the moral position of the audience, while acknowledging that the film will attract controversy: "Still, if you just want to see a great crime epic that cares more about telling a great story than promoting an agenda, you’ll want to check out Dragged Across Concrete.

Michael Bay's 6 Underground is clearly a far worthier nominee than either of those films, given how much obvious human collateral damage is racked up amid the chaotic action sequences.