I, Daniel Blake

From one of Britain’s most renowned directors comes ‘I Daniel Blake’, a gritty and realistic drama portraying the processes and outcomes of a carpenter who having suffered a heart attack gets caught up in today's benefit system as he tries to get back on his feet. ‘I Daniel Blake’ is not a thriller, there are no twists and no turns. There is nothing artificial in this film, it shows the naked reality of our everyday lives, both the pain and the humour. Yet, the banality and bleakness of these great pains is the strength of the movie as is the underlying humanity from those who try and help the protagonists. It is the formation of solidarity with other people who are in similar positions like Katie (Hayley Squires) a single mother of two that makes this film such a tragic masterpiece. It shows that we are all connected and we all can suffer in similar degrees but what is most inspiring is how we can all come together and try to help each other out of any difficulty in which we find ourselves. A devastating shot in the head and criticism of Britain's modern social security system, I Daniel Blake is awe-inspiring and thought provoking in equal measure. An absolute must see.

Hamish Brown