Xenophobia is fought gallantly through empathy and solidarity with the marginalised as Syrian refugees find new homes in Northeast England, in Loach’s exceptional and emotionally-stirring swansong. 

---

---

Purportedly Ken Loach’s final film, The Old Oak is an exceptional swansong from arguably Britain’s greatest living filmmaker. 

To be able to make such emotionally-stirring works as the Cannes Palme d’Or-winning I, Daniel Blake (2016) and Sorry We Missed You (2019) well into his octogenarian years was truly a gift for cinephiles. 

Viewing The Old Oak reminds me why I love Loach so much—his characters are so easy to empathise and it is always charming listening to various localised British accents. There is something innate in Loach’s unassuming style of filmmaking that speaks to the heart. 

Here, the key theme is xenophobia, a very severe case I must say as Syrian refugees find new homes in Northeast England, to the absolute disgust of pub regulars who tell them to go back home. 

Of course, they use much more ‘flowery’ language than that and it is heartbreaking to see families that have lost everything except the clothes on their backs subjected to such abject humiliation. 

“When you eat together, you stick together.”

Always involving from moment to moment, The Old Oak however fights ethnic discrimination gallantly through empathy and solidarity with the marginalised. 

It is Loach’s answer to a Britain that has lost its way as a country.  You can sense his seething anger, but he conceals it very well under the largely restrained performances of Dave Turner and Ebla Mari, who play respectively the owner of the titular pub and a refugee with a camera in tow. 

A guaranteed tearjerker, The Old Oak doesn’t lose any of its power by being somewhat sentimental about the plight of the disenfranchised. 

In Singapore where I live, discriminatory remarks against foreign workers are not uncommon.  In other parts of the world, hate and racism have led to high-profile deaths and nationwide protests.  With The Old Oak, Loach shows us how to be kind to human beings again.

Grade: A-

---

Trailer: