The Old Oak

Film details

Film TitleThe Old Oak
Suitability
Genre
Length113mins
Year2023
CountryBelgium, France, United Kingdom
DirectorKen Loach
ActorsDave Turner, Ebla Mari, Claire Rodgerson, Trevor Fox, Chris McGlade, Col Tait, Jordan Louis, Chris Gotts, Joe Armstrong, Andy Dawson, Maxie Peters, Debbie Honeywood, Rob Kirtley, Chris Braxton, Lloyd Mullings
LanguageArabic, English
Showings

A pub landlord in a previously thriving mining community struggles to hold onto his pub. Meanwhile, tensions rise in the town when Syrian refugees are placed in the empty houses in the community.

Although a lot of the film feels like a breathless box-ticking exercise designed to Include Every Pertinent Fact, the chemistry between Turner and Mari leads to a relationship rarely seen in cinema.

I hope that this isn’t Loach’s final film, but if it is, he has concluded with a ringing statement of faith in compassion for the oppressed.