CFUV @ VFF2020: Sorry We Missed You (Second Review)

Thosefamiliar with Ken Loach’s films will agree that Sorry We Missed You is a continuation of many common themes in this British Director’s body of work; an intimate portrait of an individual’s struggle earn a living within a system of inequality which delivers a sharply honest socialist message.

Abbie and Ricky are working class parents living in Northeast England. Abbie works long, difficult shifts as a homecare nurse, and Ricky has been struggling to find a lucrative job with little education or professional experience. He sees a new opportunity to get his family out of debt by starting a franchise as a self-employed delivery driver. What follows is an authentically uncomfortable look inside the high pressured dynamic of exploitative work environments. 

For me, watching Sorry We Missed You was an engrossing, entertaining, and occasionally tense experience. Throughout the entire 100 minutes I was amazed by the sympathy, and emotional investment that I developed with these characters–while the circumstances of the story are quite mundane, the tension that Loach was able to create within these situations is a testament to the brilliance of the screenplay and acting. 

I believe that Sorry We Missed You is an especially important film for our time, the characters and the story are approached with empathy and authenticity, values that I believe are the root of successfully navigating every social issues we face as a society today.

It’s a film that draws attention to the system of inequality that affects so many of us; the system which people to remain overworked, underpaid, and in debt, at the profit of others. The bleak outlook of the film can be difficult to stomach at some points, but a few charming moments between the family in the story allow for some delightful and much needed moments of joy.

– Amy Anderson, CFUV Correspondent