Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £6.99 a month

I, Daniel Blake
Ken Loach’s powerful, Palme d’Or-winning invective against welfare injustice captured the mood of modern Britain and became his biggest box office success.
Director: Ken Loach
Overview
Ken Loach returned from retirement to deliver this impassioned drama which courted controversy and captured the zeitgeist. Daniel Blake (Dave Johns) is a middle-aged carpenter out of work following a heart attack and in need of assistance, but who finds himself unable to navigate the impersonal, impenetrable world of corporatised welfare in 21st-century Britain. Frustrated and abandoned, Daniel befriends single mother Katie (Hayley Squires) in a similar situation. Both are marginalised by society and the government, but their friendship might just help each other get out of their rut.
Ken Loach has spent a distinguished career railing against capitalist indifference, bureaucratic incompetence and burning injustice, but he was supposedly handing over to the next generation following his 2011 film Jimmy’s Hall. Instead he was inspired to make a dramatic return, following the welfare cuts and societal changes that took hold in Britain shortly after his departure. He was rewarded with his second career Palme d’Or (following The Wind that Shakes the Barley) from the judges of the Cannes Film Festival, along with his best ever box office return, for a film that offers a powerful defence of the disenfranchised and a restatement of their right to be heard. I, Daniel Blake was made with the support of the BFI, awarding National Lottery funding.
Related

Night Games Night Games
Drama 1966 105 mins Director: Mai Zetterling
In Mai Zetterling’s scathing rebuke of European entitlement, a man returns to his childhood home and confronts his repressed memories and desire.

Loving Couples Loving Couples
Drama 1964 118 mins Director: Mai Zetterling
Three expectant mothers on a maternity ward recall their personal and sexual experiences in Mai Zetterling’s bold, subversive debut.

The Girls The Girls
Drama 1968 100 mins Director: Mai Zetterling
Three stage actresses starring in Aristophanes’ classic play Lysistrata start to draw parallels with their own lives in Mai Zetterling’s feminist comedy.

Pacifiction Pacifiction
Drama 2022 165 mins Director: Albert Serra
Albert Serra’s hypnotic Palme d'Or-nominated drama about the greed and hypocrisy of colonial power in Tahiti.

Alma's Rainbow Alma's Rainbow
Comedy 1993 89 mins Director: Ayoka Chenzira
Ayoka Chenzira’s vital coming-of-age comedy about three Black women living in Brooklyn learning to embrace life and exercise their agency.

Losing Ground Losing Ground
Drama 1982 86 mins Director: Kathleen Collins
A philosophy professor and an artist reach a crisis point in their marriage, in Kathleen Collins’ groundbreaking masterpiece.

God's Own Country God's Own Country
Drama 2017 105 mins Director: Francis Lee
A troubled young sheep farmer falls for a hired hand in this stunning debut from Francis Lee.

Scrapper Scrapper
Comedy 2023 90 mins Director: Charlotte Regan
A gorgeous and colourful heart-warming gem from Charlotte Regan, one of the best new voices in British film.

Sky Peals Sky Peals
Science Fiction 2023 91 mins Director: Moin Hussain
A coming-of-age tale about a father-son relationship that might just be out of this world.

Layla Layla
Drama 2024 100 mins Director: Amrou Al-Kadhi
A British-Palestinian drag performer catches the eye of a strait-laced white man in Amrou Al-Kadhi’s stunning, semi-autobiographical debut.

Silent Roar Silent Roar
Drama 2023 90 mins Director: Johnny Barrington
On the Isle of Lewis, a passionate surfer and his sweetheart have dreams of escaping in this charming comedy with echoes of Bill Forsyth.

The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael
Thriller 2006 94 mins Director: Thomas Clay
Thomas Clay’s unflinching story of teen drugs and violence scandalised the British film industry 20 years ago, but is arguably ripe for rehabilitation

Land and Freedom Land and Freedom
War 1995 105 mins Director: Ken Loach
Ken Loach’s passionate war drama follows an idealistic young Liverpudlian (Ian Hart) who fights for the international brigade during the Spanish Civil War.

Night Games Night Games
Drama 1966 105 mins Director: Mai Zetterling
In Mai Zetterling’s scathing rebuke of European entitlement, a man returns to his childhood home and confronts his repressed memories and desire.

Loving Couples Loving Couples
Drama 1964 118 mins Director: Mai Zetterling
Three expectant mothers on a maternity ward recall their personal and sexual experiences in Mai Zetterling’s bold, subversive debut.

The Girls The Girls
Drama 1968 100 mins Director: Mai Zetterling
Three stage actresses starring in Aristophanes’ classic play Lysistrata start to draw parallels with their own lives in Mai Zetterling’s feminist comedy.

The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael
Thriller 2006 94 mins Director: Thomas Clay
Thomas Clay’s unflinching story of teen drugs and violence scandalised the British film industry 20 years ago, but is arguably ripe for rehabilitation

The Echo The Echo
Documentary 2023 102 mins Director: Tatiana Huezo
Tatiana Huezo’s poetic documentary captures a holistic view of the rhythms of life in a remote Mexican village.

Pacifiction Pacifiction
Drama 2022 165 mins Director: Albert Serra
Albert Serra’s hypnotic Palme d'Or-nominated drama about the greed and hypocrisy of colonial power in Tahiti.