18.2.24
I can proudly say that Ken Loach was one of those directors alongside David Fincher, Terence Davies and Stanley Kubrick that turned me from a casual moviegoer to a rabid cinema lover. His best works strike the perfect balance between capturing the character and humour of English culture against a usual gritty background, saturated in social realism. Sadly though, some of his works in the last 20 years, such as Jimmy’s Hall and Route Irish, feel stale, unoriginal and lacking urgency. His latest effort The Old Oak is alongside those and feels like a faded photocopy of his past triumphs. While the elements are there – disenfranchised characters, political commentary, a hopeful eulogy at the end – the narrative just doesn’t quite come together convincingly.
We follow Syrian refugee Yara and unemployed ex-miner TJ as they bond over their economic hardships in County Durham, in the deprived north of The UK. Loach means to draw parallels to the Miners’ Strikes of the 80s, suggesting migrants are convenient scapegoats for the Tories’ failures. It’s a noble idea clumsily executed, with shallow characters and some truly wooden performances from the leads. We invest in TJ’s plight, but Yara feels more like a plot device; an unlikely character in the setting revealing candid yet forced lamentations. Unlike the authentic turns of Dave Johns and Hayley Squires in I, Daniel Blake, the subpar acting makes emotional investment difficult.
There are glimmers where Loach’s instincts shine, nailing the anger and hunger faced by communities abandoned by uncaring politicians. He rarely misses when capturing working-class voices with humour and heart – but here his touch feels tired and predictable. His once-fresh style has become stale, compromised by repetition, not innovation. The film is at its best when it directs a parallel between the economic hardship small towns face at the hands of the Conservative party and union workers, explored through great, naturalistic dialogue in the film’s titular old pub.
As a Tory-hating Brit, you have to admire Loach’s refusal to abandon his social realist vision. But The Old Oak confirms that even the most distinctive directorial identities risk creative stagnation. Yes, the film reflects his signature stripped-down style. But there’s a difference between maintaining a style and derivative recycling of old ideas. Sadly, The Old Oak clings to a worn-out formula rather than breaking new ground.