Film: Sorry We Missed You

This is follow up to I, Daniel Blake,  a heartbreaking film I’ve recommended to everyone I know, especially those who work in employability. Ken Loach now attempts to have us reaching for the tissues once again by exploring the pitfalls of the gig economy. I am one of those who work in the gig economy, having a mix of employed contracts and freelance gigs. Of course, the cruel  boss of the courier company Ricky is ‘self-employed’ at exists and the scenes with him helps us to see the worst of this world although with none of the benefits.

Sorry We Missed You is really about family and they are the scenes most of us (those of us with a heart which I hope is you) resonate with. We watch as Ricky goes to work - or he doesn’t get paid - when terribly ill and taking his daughter out with him just to spend time with her. For which he gets wickedly told off for when found out.

The mum, Abbie is a low paid support worker who goes beyond the call of duty running around on a bus (they sold the car to buy the delivery van) to care for people in their own homes. I worked in her environment for just a short while and it broke my heart; I managed a care agency that employed workers like her and it was an impossible task as you just can’t put time limits on what vulnerable people need. I used to receive desperate calls from our agency staff like Abbie distressed at what they found when they turned up at houses. I didn’t understand then and don’t understand now why their own families can’t do more. It shouldn’t be the job of the care worker to alleviate loneliness but just to administer care, although the two are often hard to separate.

I had little patience with the errant teenager on screen but then that’s why I never became a parent.

I heard Sorry We Missed You wasn’t as miserable as I, Daniel Blake. I heard wrong. 

7½/10