Top 200 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2023: #38. Ken Loach’s The Old Oak

The Old Oak

The film universe is a better place with the film of Ken Loach. Working class portrait bliss, Loach last gave us a reason to think about our online order habit realities via Sorry We Missed You and now we find ourselves ordering a final pint in a drama that was shot in the North East of England last May. Featuring Dave Turner (featured in his previous film) and Ebla Mari, the octogenarian and two-time Palme d’Or winner saw his The Old Oak find prod company partners in StudioCanal UK and Why Not Productions. Loach reteams with scribe Paul Laverty and Sixteen Films’ producer Rebecca O’Brien.

Gist: Not only is it the last pub standing, but it’s also the only remaining public space where people can meet in a once-thriving mining community that has now fallen on hard times after 30 years of decline. TJ Ballantyne (Turner), the landlord, hangs on to The Old Oak by his fingertips, and his predicament is endangered even more when the pub becomes contested territory after the arrival of Syrian refugees who are placed in the village without any notice.

Release Date/Prediction: This will contend for a third Palme d’Or next May.