Sorry We Missed You (2019)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Sorry We Missed You (2019) – K. Loach

The gig economy is destroying lives! Director Ken Loach (b. 1936!) and writer Paul Laverty (b. 1957) use their neo-realistic (or is it kitchen sink) approach to depicting the lives of the working class to examine this thoroughly modern economic model (after examining how hard it is to get government benefits in I, Daniel Blake, 2016, which won the Palme D’or).  Ricky (Kris Hitchen) signs up to deliver parcels as a “franchise” owner – he has to buy his own van but receives the parcels and a route from the distribution centre run by brutish Maloney (Ross Brewter).  If he doesn’t arrive on time or misses a day without organising his own replacement driver or loses/damages the expensive contraption that scans the packages/signatures etc., he is in for hefty fines.  Of course, this situation immediately sets viewers on edge, knowing that something bad is going to happen.  But Loach keeps things personal and we first see the impact of this 14-hour day job on his family life – he has had to sell his wife Abbie’s (Debbie Honeywood) car, leaving her stuck on public transport to manage her job caring for elderly people in their homes (also treated as contract work paid only for limited time visits and not paid if clients require extra time, which a truly caring person would want to offer). When their teen son starts to get into trouble at school and then with the law, everything comes crashing down.  There is no sympathy from the distribution centre and the fines pile up.  We know that soon the competition will undercut Ricky by being willing to sacrifice their own lives to take his share of the market…and the rich business owners get richer, not having to pay insurance, retirement funds, vacation time, or anything else.  As they have been doing so well, Loach and Laverty hit the nail on the head but it’s a gruelling experience -- if only it can have some influence on society.