The Old Oak (2023)

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New at the Browning
Directed by Ken Loach
With Dave Turner, Ebla Mari, Claire Rodgerson
113 minutes, DCP
In English and Arabic with English subtitles

The final film from British filmmaker and winner of two Palme d'Ors Ken Loach (The Wind That Shakes the Barley; I, Daniel Brake), The Old Oak is a deeply moving drama about loss, fear, and the difficulty of finding hope. The Old Oak is the last pub standing in a once thriving mining village in northern England, a gathering space for a community that has fallen on hard times. There is growing anger, resentment, and a lack of hope among the residents, but the pub and its proprietor TJ are a fond presence to their customers. When a group of Syrian refugees move into the floundering village, a decisive rift fueled by prejudices develops between the community and its newest inhabitants. The formation of an unexpected friendship between TJ and a young Syrian woman named Yara opens up new possibilities for the divided village.