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 in this deeply moving drama about loss, fear, and the difficulty of finding hope. Loach, who is 87 years old, has announced that THE OLD OAK will be his final film — and it’s a fitting send-off for one of our most humane and empathetic filmmakers.
“In place of magical thinking and a happy ending, THE OLD OAK serves up something harder: a meditation on hope.” —Alissa Wilkinson, NYT Critic’s Pick, New York Times “It's as engrossing, thoughtful, heartfelt, angry, hopeful, and altogether valuable as his best work. If it is indeed Loach's farewell, it's one hell of a fine note to go out on.” —Matt Zoller Seitz, rogerebert.com “[Ken] Loach…has always had a unique talent of making movies that illustrate human warmth without ever sliding into the maudlin. What’s more, he can deliver a lesson without ever being didactic. And he can make us cry… But if THE OLD OAK is indeed the last film of the master, it’s a fitting sendoff for a director whose work will continue to echo for at least as long as Durham Cathedral has been standing.” —Chris Knight, Original Cin
