Sorry We Missed You (2019)
Film details
Drama · Ken Loach · 1h 41min
Synopsis
Ricky and his family have been fighting an uphill struggle against debt since the 2008 financial crash. An opportunity to wrestle back some independence appears with a shiny new van and the chance to run a franchise as a self-employed delivery driver. It's hard work, and his wife's job as a carer is no easier. The family unit is strong but when both are pulled in different directions everything comes to breaking point.
Verdict
Intense social drama that celebrates family under extreme economic pressure.
In-depth analysis
Ken Loach constructs a stark portrait of the British working class ensnared by digital platform capitalism. The film does not shy away from its harshness: Ricky is beaten and robbed during a delivery, family conflicts erupt with verbal violence, and the language is that of the unfiltered British street. Yet the heart of the work beats in the opposite direction to deconstruction: this family STRUGGLES to remain united against a system that devours them. The wife sacrifices her health caring for the elderly, the father toils relentlessly for a measure of independence, and the children suffer the absence of their parents. There is no romanticism: Loach shows that effort is not always enough when the rules of the game are rigged. It is old-school social realism, without a woke agenda, with a clear message about the dignity of work and the human cost of precarity. For adults and mature adolescents with guidance: the strong language and scenes of physical violence are contextual but require formed judgment.