User reviews

"Sorry We Missed You" is an exceptional film from British director Ken Loach that I recently saw at the Philadelphia Film Festival. It's amazingly realistic and powerful....as well as incredibly sad and depressing. This is NOT a criticism...more just to let you know that it's anything but a 'feel good' sort of movie.

The story is about a working class family in crisis. The father worked 90 hour weeks as a delivery man. His boss is completely unsympathetic and hard...like a rock. The wife is also working 12-14 hour days and together they barely get by. But, because they are barely home, it's taking a huge emotional and physical toll on them as well as the family. Through the course of the film, you see these decent people fall apart....and there doesn't seem to be any answer for their predicament.

This movie was brilliant in that the actors seemed nothing like conventional actors....they were REAL. But, unlike non-professional actors, they were convincing and extremely effective. I applaud them and Loach for delivering a film that makes you think and feel....and challenges your preconceptions about the fairness and decency in the modern economy. A film not to be missed...unless you are depressed. If you do suffer from clinical depression or your life has been hard lately....maybe you might want to skip this one.

Documentary drama from Ken Loach.

The real life struggles of real people struggling to make ends meet after the financial crash. This is about a family in desperate situations, who are financially and time poor. He's a hardworking self-employed delivery driver, she's an overstretched care worker. Both very demanding jobs, their lives are hard, and their kids are neglected. A serious story for current times, though there are no references to Brexit or politics generally.

If you've seen 'I, Daniel Blake' then you'll have a good idea what to expect, though this isn't about benefits. This is more about what happens when there are no workers' rights. Recommended.

Another critical analysis of life in England in 2019. Has English society changed at all since Ken Loach' first films in the 60s? It seems not. Heartbreaking, shameful, relatable and tragically so true. We can all relate to the characters,they are our friends and neighbours and think, there but for the grace of god...... The film reminded me of On the Waterfront, with the corrupt 1950s dockside gang masters. How can these working practices have been allowed in England, in the C21st? A decade of capitalist government lade bare, just as the UK decides it's future yet again. Other "reviews" suggest the acting is suspect in places, but I feel this is the film's and LoachKs skill in making the film appear to be so real , so natural, so tragically real. Every scene and every prop had meaning, from the dreadful state of the rented house - why aren't landlords forced to maintain a decent level of decoration and repair. To the fast food of the van dash board- so what is the social and health cost of forcing drivers to work long hours, with no breaks eating sugar filled snacks. To the school who excluded a young man for 2 weeks with no support or, understanding of the causes or support needed. A true essay of English life in 2019. Tragic.

During the infancy of my career, many a time, being the most junior of the team, I usually ended up having to see poor patients who just made it to the clinic at closing time. I soon came to know that they were living far from civilisation, deep in rubber or palm oil estate. Coming to the hospital meant getting up at four in the morning, preparing breakfast for the school-going children and being able to get on the first 6 o'clock morning bus to town. Invariably, they would be delayed. The transport out to the main road would not turn up. Perhaps, the feeder bus would break down or the bus that they had to change left earlier.

They would eventually reach the hospital close to noon. After getting an earful for not keeping to their time, they would have to seen by the junior most doctor of the team. The senior ones would have left the clinic for more pressing needs. Unable to make a definitive plan of medical treatment for them, these patients who would require most of the expertise from the medical team ended up discarded by the system. They would be given another appointment; the whole ritual needs to be repeated. On top of all these, as they are daily wage earners, absence from work meant the loss of a day's earning.

I thought all these slave-like working conditions would end as the world changed. With globalisation, workers were promised working conditions and preservation of unassailable rights of the workers. Marx's dream of working for sustenance and having leisure time to enjoy the reason for their existence, they thought, would of fruition with the gig economy. They do a gig when and if they want. The workers would be their own boss. They work for themselves; not for the bosses or company. They do not work for a company but with the company. What the company failed to highlight were the fine prints, the exclusion clauses and the penalty they were to be imposed if specific rules are not followed.

Fast forward, and workers realise that the whole economy is just a scam. The same old economic ideology is just re-packaged. The same plot of scheming the poor to feed the rich is in full force. The workers continue breaking their back until a new horizon emerges. Who knows what else would they promise the next time. Meanwhile, like Sisyphus, the unendowed have the find simple pleasures within their unending cycle of hardship, a flicker of hope, resolution, pain and the curse of repeating it all over again.

Still reeling with debts from the 2008 economic downturn, Ricky thought he found a sure way to end his financial woes. The promise of good returns as an independent despatch services provider, he felt his hard work was the only thing that separated him from economic independence. For that, however, he needed to purchase a pickup van. For its down payment, he had to sell off the family car in which, the wife, Abbie, a home care nurse moved around to meet her patients.

Soon everyone realises that it is not all hunky-dory. Ricky has to spend long hours at work. Abbie finds it taxing to meet her demanding schedule. Their two teenage children are left to their devices. The parents are unable to meet up to their school and their children's emotional needs. Ricky's woes only accumulate. He has to pay damages for lost items which are not covered by insurance and to work despite his injuries after mugged.

It looks like the dependence on others will spill over on to the next generation. Their dependency on their digital hand-held devices is not mere addiction. It has become their essential tools to do their school, learning, communication and more. The digital world is another platform that is manipulated by the economic giants to make people fall at the service providers' feet. This is yet another doublespeak and the dehumanising trap of the neoliberal economy. Instead of building an antifragile society that grows stronger with every stress that is hurled upon them, we will be left with a brittle one, needing support at the mere thought of pressure.

Again, our electron microscopic friend, COVID-19 has shown us the fragility of the gig economy. Being locked down for two weeks may be excellent for family time and bonding, but neither bring in the cash nor pays the bills.

This one really resonated with me. Sorry We Missed You highlights the struggles that normal everyday people experience day to day while trying to balance work and family life and the rate of exploitation in the job market. It's hard hitting, urgent, heartbreaking and most importantly REAL. The fact that Loach is still motivated and inspired and making great films so late in his career is wonderful.

We are shown a glimpse of daily life of the Turners. A low income family with limited options and imperfect decisions. Much like the real ordinary men and women out there every day doing what ever job they can to make ends meet whether it's zero hour contracts, sub-contracts, agency work, sole trading or just a crap job you can almost guarantee they've experienced unscrupulous management, no health and safety, no sick pay, no paid holidays, no travel expenses, dodgy cheques, penalties and sanctions.. I know I have. It's a jungle out there and the grim reality is the world is full of people and businesses willing to take advantage of you at every turn and this film tries to capture just that.

I know Loach often uses unknown or first time actors in his films, but he has a way of bringing out really good performances from them. In Sorry We Missed You it's no different. The characters are really believable in their roles. Kris Hitchen's performance is outstanding in this film. He completely owns the role of Ricky. A solid actor, i'll be checking out his other work from now on. Debbie Honeywood does a great job as Abbie, however not not every line of dialogue hits the mark. Her description of her recurring dream and a few other scenes felt more like a run-through of her lines. Though not overly distracting and she more than makes up for it with her kind hearted compassionate performance. Ross Brewster played the part of the depot manager we love to hate so well. Numbers and figures man, not a care in the world for the workers. Prize pick, basically. The type of character I think we've all come across at some point.

I found this so relatable, after all that's the point isn't it. The hard grafting father working his arse off but never seems to be able to get ahead, the loving mother doing everything she can to hold it all together as she watches her family fragment, the self destructive teenage son at that "stupid age" angry, selfish and misunderstood. It made me laugh, it made me sad, it made me angry, infuriated even, and it got me thinking. What more could you want in a film. Fantastic.

Sorry we missed is not for everyone . It's a feel bad movie because it's so true and honest and heartbreaking . The acting is amazing but the film is a little bit too sad and it becomes painful to watch . The ending was a bit of let down for me although it shows how far will you go . And this is what the movie is about , how far will you go to bring home the bacon so you and your family not to end up in the streets .

I'm sure that Ken Loach never expected himself to be directing Boris Johnson's Election campaign in Sorry We Missed You. This is Made In Britain Tory style. Ken took a swipe at the necessary (as it didn't affect them) benefit cuts meted out to the poor and vulnerable in I, Daniel Blake. And here he shows real life outside the London and South East bubble for the working-class poor of the North-East. Even a dog has three legs.

Sorry We Missed You looks at the dog end of the Tories' policies where two thirds of workers are paid less than £20,000 a year. Well below the national average. When we should have been spending to invest in Britain, Tory Chancellor George Osborne was cutting. And instead of a workforce building and making a better Britain, and all paying tax. We have a new workforce of self-employed delivery drivers. Sorry We Missed You spotlights the much trumpeted GIG economy that helps fill that demand. And while Germany makes cars, Britain delivers parcels on zero hour contracts.

Kris Hitchen's Ricky Turner could have been part of the workforce that rebuilt Britain, but after the 2008 financial crash he lost his building job. Afterwards with wife Abbie played by Debbie Honeywood, they lost their arranged mortgage when Northern Rock went under. Now they rent a terrace house with their two kids, and try to keep their heads above water.

Having worked all his life and never been on the dole Ricky now gets the opportunity to 'come on-board' as a driver in a great delivery opportunity. The terms and conditions are as bad as you can imagine and don't include a bottle for bathroom breaks, provide that yourself with the van, as you won't get any breaks. Time is his money and if he doesn't make the deliveries on time he'll get his pay docked. But he's reminded by the b****rd manager that this is a great self employment gig. We know all about these 'self-employed' GIGs. Ricky can rent a van from the company at £65 a day or buy his own. But with the thought his hard work can help them out of their financial debts, Ricky goes ahead and sells Abbie's car to get £1000 deposit for his own van.

Fantastic, except Abbie is a home carer and her workday starts at 6:30 and ends at 21:30, and now she's on the bus. Abbie's job is not for the faint hearted and she treats her care in the community clients the way she would treat her mother. This the coal face of our economy. Underpaid and under appreciated. As long as the families don't actually have to do the caring everyone's happy.

Keeping food on the table and a roof over their heads is hard enough for Ricky and Abbie, but their children see the stress their parents are under and it affects them equally. Rhys Stone's Seb is a would-be Banksy with a bad attitude towards society and is completely uninterested in school. Why get £57k into debt going to University and then working in a call centre he says to his parents. Only to spend the weekend drinking to make up for life's disappointments. Ken Loach covers it all. And little poppet Katie Proctor is a studious daughter, but although not rebellious, her trauma is as profound.

There seems no end to the agony of this lifestyle. And while Ricky is good at his job, his customers can be arses, and my god it will make you think when that poor delivery person brings your next parcel. And being conscientious at work doesn't count for jack when he needs support for his family. And Ken even gets to give us a little A&E action, but they really are angels. Even with the wait.

Most of the actors seem to be in their first acting jobs so the film had a sort of real life documentary feel about it. And I watch a lot of movies but I came out of Sorry We Missed You absolutely shellshocked. I started adding sanitary products to food bank boxes after seeing I, Daniel Blake in 2016, but our charity isn't enough for society today. Poor people with nothing are working and still looking out for each other. With rare glimpses of pure happiness among the grit and a touching script by Paul Laverty Sorry We Missed You is a parable of our times that MPs of every party should watch. And then for God's sake act. There is no way out otherwise from the hardship this family and many others in this country face.

Bravo once again Ken Loach, the greatest social dramatist of our time.

You won't come out of the cinema full of cheer - the film certainly succeeds in showcasing the depressing realities faced by many British families in the current socio-economic climate.

'Sorry We Missed You' is an important and timely social commentary, much like a case study in fact, although I'm not sure it rates especially highly in terms of a piece of cinema. While the story carries emotional depth, it has very simple narrative and in places the performances don't quite hit the mark, which hinders the film in maximising impact, which was surely it's intention.

It's not a patch on Loach's previous film - I, Daniel Blake - which takes on societal issues in an equally direct fashion but is a vastly superior and more enjoyable watch.

For Loach, who is peaking yet again at this point in his career, this is another song about those unspoken for. This time it's delivery drivers. Be it an Amazon or a food delivery service. The most beautiful parts however are the the filmmaker also does say along with depicting the toughness of their lives, that the only way to breathe normally amidst this is to stick together as family.

To those criticising this film, I question whether you've had to experience anything like this Film depicts, cuz I have, I'm a conservative so I'm not partial to left wing nonsense and I'm very anti unions, I work in construction in Australia and I can assure you, there are many people like myself that experience these impossible odds, with no help from Anyone, people like the protagonist and his family are the people that fall through the cracks, yet do not want to wallow in victimhood, so we suffer in silence and press on. Watch this film if you to have a similar life, it might give you some hope, to see aspects of your forgotten story, finally given some light and maybe Now that's it's received some attention, we can hope that others don't have to go through similar trying circumstances.

Ken Loach, great director of working class movies, gifts an awesome political art-work to the audience, again.

The movie doesn't say any directly political word or doesn't picture any agitative scene. But, it really strikes the audience and reflects hard reality of actual daily life in U.K. Within a plain narration (however much more harder than "I, Daniel Blake") and masterfully avoiding a catharsis final, Loach tells great majorities' pity lives;

-. Flexible working conditions instead of officially regular work hours

-. Ambigious labour shifts which comprise no stable daily break-time or weekly holiday

-. obligations of unemployment and debts to consent those terrible working conditions.

-. the one can't find any time for the family, friends or any leisure avtivity and could easily transform to a non-sensual monster... Loach, with no boring narration and without a huge agitation, tells an ordinary family's very realistic and sentimental story.

I think every audience will leave the theatre with a high anger to the capitalist system!!! Thank you, Ken Loach!!!

Sorry we missed you, says the card from the DPD driver. Your parcel is in your wellingtons in the back garden.

Well, that's a familiar message to us middle class online shoppers.

How we curse when our delivery man (looking a bit stressed) arrives late.

What we don't know, until now, is perhaps why he's late and the repercussions.

Loach and his usual writer, Paul Laverty, have crafted another slice of life drama out of real delivery man stories, real care worker stories. But the problem with this latest opus is that they have basically lumped all of the worst case scenarios onto one family.

The outcome is, therefore, an almost unbelievable tidal wave of misery. Of course this story is possible but it's too contrived. It's like following the proverbial gambling addict backing red but black coming up time after time after time on his worst ever losing streak.

Add to this Loach's penchant for using under-exposed (or non-professional) actors and he runs the risk of it not coming off. And in this case there are too many misfires from his earnest, but variably talented, cast.

In the lead, Kris Hitchen does a good job of holding the whole thing together, although it's the relationship with his charming daughter (who largely steals the show) Lisa Jane that is the emotional heart of the movie. Sadly his world-weary care-working wife, Abbie, played by Debbie Hollywood fails to match up. She has no previous pedigree and I don't expect she will progress on the back of this, despite a valiant attempt to pull off a difficult role.

I don't intend to spoil this with plot detail but I can tell you this is RELENTLESSLY bleak. To the point of being unbelievable: few in the gig economy can have ALL of this bad luck but I totally understand that many have some.

If only the misery had been doled out to more characters, and if only the acting had been of a universally higher standard this could have been a Loach great.

But it's not.

I, Daniel Blake had few of the faults of this latest outing and all of its strengths.

Saying that, Ken Loach is one of our great polemicists and his voice is vital in our hideous Tory-driven self-centred economy.

Boris will never watch this, and if he does he'll scoff at it. But, then, we scoff at his privilege.

I'm sorry I can't rate this amongst Loach's best, but it deserves to be seen, albeit with a slightly forgiving viewer attitude.

A great director performing at sub-par is nevertheless a great director and I still rate this a 6/10.

I would imagine the hope for this film is it tells a story of people trying to get by in Britain in 2019, for people to see now and in the future and it does that to a degree.

I don't disagree that the film is accurate and people are struggling but I just thought it wasn't that well acted and lacked real punch for a Ken loach film.

The story is good if a little thin and the pace is ok but I just felt it was missing something.

I was fortunate to get the last remaining ticket for this at the New Zealand Film Festival. Ken Loach has done it again. Sorry we missed you is another masterpiece, a fierce, angry and unapologetic film about the zero hour contract and the devastating cost to so many people working in Britain today.

The film tells the story of one family's struggle to regain financial independence whilst working jobs with zero hour contracts and the stress and uncertainty this brings. We witness their family life become more and more toxic as both parents become exhausted and eventually lose their sense of dignity.

Like most of Ken Loaches films it's graphic, brutally honest and difficult to watch at times. but told with real empathy. At one point in the film the lady next to me buried her head in her hands her as she couldn't bare to witness the struggle and humiliation facing the family.

During another scene in the film the whole theatre burst into applause as the wife grabs the phone from her husband out of sheer anger at the way he is being talked to by his unempatheitc boss and gives him a piece of his mind.

The film doesn't end on a happy note, there isn't any way it for it to do so. It simply highlights that for many the struggle is both real and never ending and yet again you leave the theatre feeling upset and angry that such atrocities are allowed to happen.

Ken Loach films are always on point, no matter the issues and societal ills being explored. Sorry We Missed You takes its audience into the life of a family whose circumstances result in both parents being at the mercy of zero hours contracts and corporate misuse of self employment to exploit their workforce for bigger profits. Its a sad indictment of our society and the gig economy which journeys more and more towards placing higher value on the pursuit of profit over the lives and well being of ordinary working class people. Anyone who buys on line and has your parcel delivered to your door or has relatives who rely on paid carers should watch this film to fully appreciate what they do for us and the sacrifices and hardships they may be facing.

Very moving and beautifully executed story. It's more tragedy than drama, but sets modern life into perspective.

This is a story that is very realistic. It tells the every day struggle of a family who is exploited by the society. It is just so so sad. Many people can relate to the story, I am sure. What happens to the family is heart wrenching, yet it is very realistic to the point that it can be happening to us our or friends right this second.

I love this kind of drama, I really do, but they are always so keen to emphasise the salt-of-the-earth, heart-of-gold dimension of the British working class. Well I was there and, very often, it's so not true. The unshown aggression, the cruelty, the drunken violence, is real, very, very real. Everyone is NOT a good guy at heart if only they had a chance. I know.

I have, as a child, been bundled out of the fire doors, covered in blood from the fist-throwing cousins, uncles, parents. If you want a true, unvarnished picture of this kind of life you can get it from a picture from the other side of the world: Once Were Warriors. The truest portrayal of the brutishness of British underclass I ever saw.

His film hits home in every possible way. Such a simple story and yet to relatable because the struggles are so universal. Absolutely beautiful. After I, Daniel Blake, this is another one that made me cry my heart out, quite literally.

Movie night with Iris.

A film for our times, as delivery drivers work zero hour contracts to satisfy the bored middle classes on lockdown. And a care worker goes the extra mile, and probably now doesn't have any PPE.

Didn't Loach retire? Thank god he didn't as her still retains the ability to make heart-wrenching dramas that expose the grimmer aspects of UK society.

The Gig economy piece soon takes a back seat in the van. Loach shows just how precarious matters are for the family, as they push towards crisis. Capturing brilliantly the alienation and existential anguish. The subject matter whilst grim, is utterly absorbing. There is a delicate, insightful portrayal of family relationships.

The ending is both ingenious and devastating.

The Film really highlights the issues faced by many in our society. Acting was strong most of the time but there was the odd scene where it felt top "scripted". Over all defiantly worth watching

First thing to do is look up Don Lane DPD for a bit of info. The acting was pretty bad and the message a little heavy handed but despite all that it was a good if not sad film. The older I get the angrier I get at the system and how we are all slowly just getting screwed. The world shouldn't be like this. As Orwell said - The upper class don't care about the middle class and the middle class don't care about the working class and we all strive to move up into the next class system. If you can get past the bad acting it is a good movie but not one of Loach's best. A said observation on society and how some people work as hard as they can but struggle even harder, children suffer and so the cycle continues.

First up, if you are feeling just a little bit down and hard done by then this movie will could make you swing two ways. You'll either feel that your life isn't that bad after all and feel slightly better about yourself or, on the other hand, you'll be thinking very seriously about finding either a knife, some rope or a bottle of pills because this is a DEPRESSING movie to watch. (And if you are feeling this way then do get some help) Now I know the director and writer etc want to show case a family trying to survive in lovely England but you will find yourself yelling at the screen as each bad decision after a terrible decision gets played out in front of you in an almost Shakespearean sort of way. Plot is simple, you'll follow a family of four where the father blunders his way into a delivery franchise that is more akin to servitude. The mother acts like a Florence Nightingale who can't say no while a wayward son acts out the bad boy cliches while the youngest daughter appears to be the only beacon of light. The acting is up and down with some good scenes but then there are other scenes that come across as wooden. Clearly when I looked at other reviews I feel there is some political bias but it was an election year in the UK. What I do recommend about this film is that you watch it simply on the grounds of what NOT to do when trying to work your way out of debt.