One of the most affecting realist social dramas I have seen, and the best since Two Days, One Night. Ken Loach is a master at this stuff, but the secret to getting on board with such tragedy is twofold - how much you relate to the subject matter, and how contrived are the situations that unfold to prove the point. The awful, heartbreaking reality of the poverty line and the injustices inherent in the failing systems that profess to be helping people is a subject I have some personal experience of and I have to say I was in pieces watching certain scenes of I, Daniel Blake. So woven through with the ring of truth it looks like it must have been easy to make. How skillfully hidden therefore is the immense talent it takes to do that!
Relative newcomer Hayley Squires is a revelation. I will never forget how deeply touched I was watching the horrific simplicity of one particular scene. If you have seen it you will know which one. Too bleak and cold for me to rate this higher than 8/10, but for the type of film it is there are few better. An important document of something devastatingly sad and unfair that is actually happening in 2016/17.
Relative newcomer Hayley Squires is a revelation. I will never forget how deeply touched I was watching the horrific simplicity of one particular scene. If you have seen it you will know which one. Too bleak and cold for me to rate this higher than 8/10, but for the type of film it is there are few better. An important document of something devastatingly sad and unfair that is actually happening in 2016/17.