The Old Oak: Movie Review

Cast: Dave Turner, Ebla Mari, Claire Rodgerson, Trevor Fox
Director: Ken Loach

Ken Loach's apparent cinematic swansong is a tender film that ever so slightly stumbles in its denouement, but one which proffers an entirely human approach to the neglect of societal schisms.

Set in a rundown mining community in Britain's north, it's the story of pub landlord TJ Ballantyne (Turner, extremely approachable in his everyday man performance) trying to negotiate life when a group of Syrian refugees are rehomed in his community.

Previously the peacemaker between factions, Ballantyne finds life in the community reaching a crossroads when he joins forces with the outspoken Yara (Mari in a star-making turn) to help them integrate.

Less a propulsive plot and more a simmering mix of circumstance, The Old Oak's chief commitment is to a compassionate story about two fractured communities trying to to find their way forward. On the one hand, the former mining community is damaged, scarred by old disasters and troubled by NIMBY complaints over dropping house prices and the homing of refugees.

On the other, parts of the community recognise this is their chance to fight back against the injustices thrust upon them in the 80s and come together to prove something good. Unsurprisingly, Loach is fairly forthright in his messaging, as xenophobia bubbles up on all fronts - from frank conversations in the pub which start "I'm not racist, but" to glances, all the signs of tension live and burst forth at TJ's dilapidated pub.

But what Loach does with the entirely predictable story is fashion something that just about manages to offer a degree of compassion to everyone affected in any way. From pictures of drawn out etched faces of the miners to the present day remnants of how life was, Loach has an agenda to pursue and he does so unapologetically.

It may meander a little towards an obvious ending but Loach's desire to proffer hope when everything around his characters is bleak is something that shouldn't be scoffed at or taken lightly. Current climates indicate there needs to be a higher bar for tolerance, and if this truly is his last film, then Loach has done what any social filmmaker should do - taken a mirror and shone it on the inequities in our society in the hope of improvement.