I’ve been a big Ken Loach fan for decades. I haven’t watched all of his films, but, of the dozen or so that I have watched, almost every one received either ***+ or ****. The amazing thing is that his last two films (which Loach made in his 80’s) are, for me, his very best films. I, Daniel Blake was one of my two favourite films of 2016 and Sorry We Missed You (a 2019 film not released in Canada until 2020) is currently my favourite film of 2020.
Due credit needs to be given to Paul Laverty, who wrote the screenplay for most of Loach’s films (including the two mentioned above). The writing in Sorry We Missed You is brilliant throughout, as are the raw and natural performances of the largely unknown cast.
Sorry We Missed You stars Kris Hitchin as Ricky, a middle-aged man who is given the opportunity to be a self-employed delivery driver in a northeast England city (Newcastle?) and sees it as a way out of the debt that has haunted his family (wife, two children) since the 2008 financial crisis. Ricky’s wife, Abbie (Debbie Honeywood), works long hours as a home care nurse, a job made bearable by the use of the family car. But Ricky needs to sell the car to buy the delivery van, creating a lot of stress for Abbie. Ricky’s delivery job is also rather stressful (understatement).
If the work stresses aren’t enough, teenage son Seb (Rhys Stone) is in trouble at school and acting out in other ways, leaving daughter Liza Jane (Katie Proctor) to try to keep the family from self-destructing, a job she may not be up to. The tension in Sorry We Missed You builds relentlessly as crisis follows crisis.
You got it – this is not a happy film, which is no big surprise from Loach and Laverty. What Sorry We Missed You is, is a raw heartfelt film about the ordinary lives of average people in England struggling to make ends meet and make their lives better. There is no sentimentalizing melodrama here, just a lot of empathy and a thought-provoking story about life and alienation in 2019 England. Good thing financial stress is no longer an issue in 2020! Sigh.
Sorry We Missed You gets an easy ****. My mug is up.