Sorry we missed you
review by patrick o’donoghue
Kris Hitchen as Rickey and Katie Proctor as Lisa Jane in Sorry We Missed You.
The compulsion to capture the richness of working-class life (and all the quiet moments of desperation, fleeting ecstasy, flurries of rage, and untamed wit that it is comprised of) has always been the mission statement etched in bold upon Ken Loach’s heart. His and writer Paul Laverty’s latest offering, Sorry We Missed You, perhaps stands as the most forceful testament to this life-long commitment. Sorry We Missed You charts the destruction of a working family, brutally pulled apart in all directions by the crippling imperatives of zero-hour contract labour.
Despite the grim reality that is this magnum opus’ central focus, Loach and Laverty’s deep empathy for the working-class still manages to bleed through ubiquitously. The ultimate triumph and humanity of the film is found in each small act of kindness, every tiny generosity exhibited by the downtrodden at every turn, in spite of a world that actively encourages them to behave otherwise - demonstrating the profound affection for ordinary people harboured by its makers. However, the quotidian altruism of the working-class is not enough to keep the darkness and dread of life at bay. Though, it does convey a wishful thought that the spirit of these people will never be broken.
“The ultimate triumph and humanity of the film is found in each small act of kindness, every tiny generosity exhibited by the downtrodden at every turn, in spite of a world that actively encourages them to behave otherwise....”
Our protagonist, delivery man Ricky (Kris Hitchen), confesses in a key scene that he sees the way in which his world is gravitating as being “all out of whack.” Given the ceaseless daily grind he is subjected to, it’s a small wonder. Every fibre of his being strives to put things in order for his family; but, in a disorderly world, the tragic irony and paradox is that the harder he tries to achieve this, the more he is punished for his efforts. Moments of reprieve are scarce for Ricky. One comes when out on deliveries, as he banters on the doorstep with a Newcastle fan before recounting the halcyon days of his own Manchester United fandom. He leaves triumphantly flicking up the white collar of his red jersey in true “King Eric” style, sticking it to the Magpies fan with an "Ooh-aah Cantona" as a parting shot.
Sadly, these flickers of passion and joy only fade as we watch Ricky slide further and further into chaos. His beleaguered wife Abby (Debbie Honeywood) is plagued by bad dreams, his son Seb is left with nothing but anti-social outlets for his creativity, and his precocious daughter Liza Jane (Katie Proctor) just wants the shattered pieces of her once tight-knit family put back together again. But capitalism’s treadmill just keeps them running faster, and the carrot keeps moving further out of their reach throughout Sorry We Missed You.
If a subtle, skirting-around of the fundamental economic and social issues facing our society today is what you expected coming in, you will be caught totally off-guard. This is a savage indictment of our times. A film that lays bare, and makes unflinchingly explicit, all the ugly truths our political and economic classes would like to obfuscate. Sorry We Missed You gut-wrenchingly pummels home its message about the current state of affairs for the most vulnerable in society with a mercilessness only matched by the relentless cruelty of the system it so fastidiously unravels. And all the better, and more powerful, for it.
Sorry We Missed You is currently screening in select theatres in Dublin.