I, Daniel Blake - Movie Review

Not as gut wrenching as KES, but this film was competent in addressing the social and political issues it was tended to as it was trying to rip in the UK Benefits system. It was compelling to see a juxtaposition in the way people are being treated. Daniel Blake gets treated like crap at the JobCentre as well as Kate the single mother, but they both treat each other and the children with respect and look out for each other. As someone who lives in the UK, the benefit system is a travesty and Ken Loach succeeded in revealing the reality of the darkness of his country as he tends to do in his other movies such as KES.

However I did not like the fact that the film ended with me questioning the closure for a certain character. It contained solid performances by comic, Dave Johns and Haley Squires as well as the children. However the downside of this film is that some people may not appreciate that its one sided on the left side of politics and also people who work in the Job centre may not appreciate that they are being portrayed as brow beaters or villains when they are just doing their job under the Governments rules. My advise is to watch this film from a human rights perspective not a political, as it does hold a really powerful message of Daniel Blake demanding to be treated as a citizen and not a burden. I think this film truly deserved the Palm D'Or 2016. Well done Ken Loach!