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A pub owner fights to save his business in a dying town as tensions escalate with Syrian refugees.
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Ken Loach’s deeply moving final film explores loss, fear, and the difficulty of finding hope. When a group of Syrian refugees moves to a once thriving mining village in northern England, prejudice fuels a rift between the community and its newest inhabitants. But an unlikely friendship between the owner of the local pub and a young Syrian woman offers new possibilities for the divided village.
"In The Old Oak, director Ken Loach once again delivers a powerful narrative, one where there are no heroes or villains, but rather sharp wit, potent dialogue, and unsettling monologues capable of bringing tears even to the most hardened of hearts. The plot follows the inhabitants of an abandoned village in England as they come into conflict with Syrian refugees who have been resettled there by the government. Amidst the tensions, the owner of a small pub tries to keep his bar open while simultaneously starting an unexpected friendship with the young Syrian girl Yara (Ebla Mari). This is the third film in a trilogy about the English North East that began with the features I, Daniel Blake and Sorry We Missed You. Through melancholy cinematography, the director also builds emotion. In addition, the fact that Dave Turner, the protagonist, was a firefighter for nearly 50 years before becoming an actor, and that Mari is a Syrian refugee actress, makes Loach's latest work a deep and interesting dive into the human dilemmas inherent in any nationality"