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.
