Ken Loach proves that one does not need some extraordinary circumstances...to make a powerful...film full of conviction – it is simply enough to show life as it is – a simple daily struggle known to many and only too well.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Aug 9, 2024

Loach’s plain-speaking film is a touchingly realistic parable.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 4, 2023

It's impossible to watch this movie without being forced to cope with bouts of sadness and helplessness -- it's honest and uncompromising, although moments of humor do manage to break loose.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Sep 18, 2021

Small moments of humanity...are what matter here, and by not underlining them, Loach highlights them all the more.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 13, 2021

Righteous commentary on the state of the UK, which hits home with the force of a sledgehammer...

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 23, 2021

The performers are sincere enough, but the film is fairly insipid and forgettable.

| Jul 8, 2020

Loach, at 80 years old, has returned to the brief social drama for which his cinema has been characterized. It offers us a moving and very human film that functions as the voice of the British people who demand to be heard. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 7/10 | Jun 27, 2020

[A] deeply moving portrait of poverty and human dignity.

| Nov 22, 2019

An uncomfortable, unpleasant truth, which certainly does not invite the consumption of popcorn, but cinema can be more than entertainment. And sometimes it should be. [Full Review in Spanish]

| Aug 20, 2019

The emotional impact of the film lies in its raw, documentary feel and the natural performances of Johns and Squires; the dialogue is akin to eavesdropping on real conversations.

| Original Score: 10/10 | Apr 17, 2019

I, Daniel Blake is a deeply moving and, sadly, much-needed reminder of everything that's wrong with Britain's benefits system and a man's right -- and defense of his fight -- to be treated as a human being by the state that has devised it.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Feb 22, 2019

Loach does not need much time or narrative resources to show us how the system seems orchestrated to break the dignity of those who do not have privileges. [Full Review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jan 21, 2019

I've laughed and cried at many a movie. But few have inspired such a violent physical reaction as I, Daniel Blake.

| Original Score: 9/10 | Dec 27, 2018

When I first saw British director's "I, Daniel Blake"... I found its tale of an unemployed man's struggle extremely moving but a bit heavy-handed. After the election, that excess now seems like righteous, well-placed anger.

| Oct 31, 2018

One can sympathise with Loach's political sensibilities, but this film's shallowness, twee sensibility and transparent polemics make for an unchallenging viewing experience.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 31, 2018

Ken Loach gives you just enough in the 100 minutes running time and this film will captivate and disgust the viewer in equal measure.

| Aug 21, 2018

I, Daniel Blake is about the struggles of an ailing common man against the labyrinthine welfare bureaucracy to get that elusive 'employment and support allowance.'

| Jul 24, 2018

There is something thrilling about Loach's dedication to exposing the horror and mind-numbing pointlessness of bureaucracy with as little drama as possible.

| Apr 26, 2018

Loach, then, is still the best at what he does - speaking the truth to power on behalf of those whose voices are so often unheard. And he can still appeal to the head as much as the heart.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 10, 2018

Worthy of its Palme D'Or win at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 16, 2018