Midweek Movie: The Old Oak (15)

Adults £6 / under 18s £2

Running time 1 hour 30 mins / UK rating 15

The Old Oak is a 2023 film directed by Ken Loach and written by Paul Laverty. 

There’s bleak desperation and a stewing sense of injustice in the village, a previously thriving mining community in County Durham. The arrival of several families of Syrian refugees, ramps up the tension, much of which is vented in TJ Ballantyne’s dilapidated pub, The Old Oak.  Meanwhile, TJ – disappointed and decent – strikes up a friendship with Yara (Ebla Mari), a young female refugee. Together with aid worker Laura (Claire Rodgerson), they devise a plan to bring the two traumatised communities together.

The indomitable Loach is still holding a mirror in the face of the issues society likes to avoid. His cinematic language is intact and undimmed and in a world dominated by cynical big-budget glitz, it’s refreshing to see he’s lost neither his compassion nor his steel. See this film!