--- title: "The Old Oak: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-old-oak/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-old-oak" critics_score: 68 critics_reviews: 17 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Old Oak (2023): what the critics said Critics' score 68 from 17 reviews: 11 positive, 4 mixed, 2 negative. Most critics take The Old Oak as Ken Loach’s farewell and judge it with that in mind, which explains both the warmth and the disappointment. The praise clusters around Loach’s compassion and the two leads, with Dave Turner and Ebla Mari singled out for lived-in, unforced work; several reviews also admire the film’s picture of a boarded-up former mining village and its plain call for solidarity between locals and Syrian refugees. The reservations are consistent across the board: a heavy-handed script, supporting characters written as mouthpieces, uneven turns from the non-professional cast, and a tendency to sentiment. The spread is wide, and American reviews are warmer than British ones. The Times finds the plotting clunky and the dialogue facile, The Telegraph calls it the weakest of his north-east trilogy, Little White Lies calls it didactic, and The i Paper says good politics do not always make good films. Variety, more sympathetically, thinks a strong start softens into wish-fulfilment. ## Los Angeles Times — Robert Abele Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 12 April 2024. The critic praises Loach’s enduring compassion and commitment to themes of solidarity in this story of a pub owner bridging divides with refugees. It highlights the authentic casting and performances as particularly strong. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-04-12/the-old-oak-review-ken-loach-ebla-mari-dave-turner-solidarity) ## Time Out — Phil de Semlyen Rating 4/5. 25 May 2023. Festival review. The critic calls it a knotty, melancholy hymn to community and solidarity, praising Loach's enduring empathy and the performances of the leads. It highlights the film's focus on xenophobia and the landlord's protectiveness toward refugees as a fitting swansong. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-old-oak-2023) ## Vulture — Bilge Ebiri Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 5 April 2024. Spare and moving drama about a dying village greeting Syrian refugees with a mix of racism and puzzlement. Ends on a hopeful note with a full-throated call for brotherhood and solidarity as Loach's perhaps final film. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/article/movie-review-ken-loachs-final-film-the-old-oak.html) ## The AV Club — Brent Simon Rating B. 4 April 2024. Earnest, heartfelt and touching social realism that blends poignancy and hopefulness in a mature portrait of community tensions and immigrant integration. Commends Loach's unshakeable belief in people's capacity to listen, grow and choose better angels. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/the-old-oak-movie-review-ken-loach-1851383534) ## Slant Magazine — Jake Cole Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 30 March 2024. Moving swan song and clarion call for a better tomorrow that depicts people carving dignity from undignified lives. Singles out the plea for solidarity between the scion of northern miners and a displaced Syrian woman united in shared struggle. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-old-oak-review-ken-loach/) ## Evening Standard — Jo-Ann Titmarsh Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 19 September 2023. Loach might not be bowing out with a masterpiece but it is still classic Loach full of his trademark righteous fury. The film captures conflict over refugees receiving handouts and portrays desolation in boarded-up estates, though the script is heavy-handed with non-professional actors sometimes acting as mouthpieces. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/the-old-oak-movie-review-ken-loach-syrian-refugees-miners-strike-b1082194.html) ## Film Comment — Devika Girish Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). Festival review. The film is straightforward and plainly shot, erring on maudlin, but it pierces with sincere, unadorned discontent about austerity's impact. It gleams with hope through emerging solidarity, yearning for a better future in a way that moves the critic despite its conventional form. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/cannes-2023-the-time-of-our-lives/) ## Radio Times — James Mottram Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). The critic finds it a frank, heartfelt examination of community crisis that is one of Loach's more hopeful films, nodding to the power of the collective. It praises the touching finale and themes of togetherness but notes it is not subtle and some non-professional acting falls short. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-lj2k4y/the-old-oak/) ## The Independent Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 28 September 2023. The film is far from Loach’s best work and not his angriest or most compelling, but it is an honest piece from an artist committed to holding the powerful to account. It belongs to a loose trilogy set in the north-east and features strong leads in Dave Turner and Ebla Mari amid themes of economic abandonment and scapegoating of refugees. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/the-old-oak-ken-loach-review-b2420242.html) ## Empire — John Nugent Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 25 September 2023. This is a fitting and frustrating end to an extraordinary career, with powerful storytelling occasionally stymied by less subtle impulses and preposterously bleak tone. It finds empathetic approaches and outstanding turns from the leads but lacks self-awareness in its hallmarks and didactic moments. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/the-old-oak/) ## Variety — Owen Gleiberman Fi1m's normalised score 55/100 (inferred from the text). 26 May 2023. Festival review. The critic notes the film starts strong in illuminating working-class racism and community tensions but faults it for softening into wish-fulfillment. It praises the lived-in lead performances for their pain and soul. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2023/film/reviews/the-old-oak-review-ken-loach-cannes-film-festival-1235626246/) ## Little White Lies — Mark Asch Rating 3/2/2. 25 September 2023. The critic views the film as another heavy-handed late work that trades on didacticism and sentimentality, with characters serving as mouthpieces for social issues. It singles out the programmatic style and stilted performances while acknowledging moments of hope and community. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/the-old-oak) ## The i Paper — Christina Newland Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 29 September 2023. The Old Oak is a likeable and well-meaning film but a disappointment, with characters as archetypes that fail to deliver granular human detail. Good politics do not always make good movies, and the appeal for solidarity is broad and on-the-nose at times. [Read the review](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/the-old-oak-review-ken-loach-final-film-disappointment-2643886) ## IndieWire — Sophie Monks Kaufman 26 May 2023. Festival review. Stiff and contrived morality play about Syrian refugees that lacks artistry. Acknowledges that the filmmaker's socially conscious spirit remains alive as ever. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/the-old-oak-review-1234868354/) ## Screen Daily 26 May 2023. Festival review. The critic sees it as a resonant, angry swansong and one of Loach's foremost state-of-the-nation dramas, taking up arms against the decay of national compassion. It singles out the ensemble piece's ambitious mounting and commentary on xenophobia rooted in economic neglect. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-old-oak-cannes-review/5182494.article) ## Sight and Sound 28 September 2023. The critic describes the film as a sobering portrait of a divided UK and Loach's possible final statement, focusing on a pub landlord befriending a Syrian refugee amid community tensions. It praises the stark depiction of deprivation and bigotry but notes the piling on of misery and lack of levity. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/old-oak-ken-loachs-final-cinematic-statement-stark-portrait-divided-uk) ## The Guardian 30 September 2023. The film follows a pub landlord and a young Syrian refugee who join forces to unite divided communities in a struggling northern English town. It is driven by anger, empathy and idealism, delivering moments of blistering power despite uneven performances from the non-professional cast. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/sep/30/the-old-oak-review-compassionate-refugee-drama-from-ken-loach) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Jordan Mintzer 26 May 2023. Festival review. Compassionate if a bit schematic chronicle of a small-town culture clash as Syrian refugees arrive in a declining northern English mining community. Praises the natural intimacy and emotional high points from lived-in performances but notes some facile speechifying. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-old-oak-review-ken-loach-1235501649/) ## The New York Times — Alissa Wilkinson Rating Critic’s Pick. 4 April 2024. The critic finds the film a moving drama about connection between Syrian refugees and a struggling former mining town. It singles out the forthright style and meditation on hope for praise. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/04/movies/the-old-oak-review.html) ## The Telegraph Festival review. Ken Loach’s latest is the weakest of his recent north-east trilogy, with a script that borders on parody in its predictability and heavy-handed approach to social issues. The film is sluggishly plotted and ultimately unsatisfying despite its well-intentioned message of solidarity. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/the-old-oak-cannes-2023-review-ken-loach/) ## The Times — Ed Potton Rating ★★☆☆☆. 29 September 2023. The worthy story of friction between locals and Syrian refugees in a former mining village is undermined by facile dialogue, clunky plotting and cartoonish supporting performances. The two main characters are engaging but the film is told in a cack-handed manner. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/the-old-oak-review-ken-loach-nbd0x85s0) ## Deadline — Damon Wise Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 26 May 2023. Festival review. The critic calls it a vital, moving social parable and fitting swansong for Loach, praising its compassion in depicting community tensions, racism born of decline, and themes of solidarity. It highlights strong performances, especially Dave Turner's, and the film's focus on ordinary people's shared struggles against systemic erosion. [Read the review](https://deadline.com/2023/05/the-old-oak-review-strength-solidarity-and-resistance-in-a-vital-moving-social-parable-by-ken-loach-1235381042/) ## HeyUGuys — Daniel Goodwin Rating 4/5. 25 September 2023. The critic calls it another triumph for Loach and Laverty. The film is praised as inspiring and heartfelt, with emphatic compassion that adds potent drama, complex depth, and prevailing humanity to its social commentary. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/the-old-oak-review/) ## The Skinny — Jamie Dunn Rating ★★★★. 25 September 2023. The film is a compassionate call for unity between a bitter working-class community and Syrian refugees in a deindustrialised village. It delivers rousing moments that forgive the script's heavy-handedness and occasional sentimentality, forming a deeply moving conclusion to Loach's recent trilogy. [Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/the-old-oak) ## Eye for Film — Andrew Robertson Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 26 September 2023. The critic views the film as a series of didactic vignettes focused on community, solidarity, and the impacts of deindustrialization and prejudice. It is described as slow-paced and ultimately more preaching to the converted, though the director's quality is affirmed. [Read the review](http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/the-old-oak-2023-film-review-by-andrew-robertson) ## Paste — Brogan Morris Rating 6.5. 4 April 2024. The critic notes that while The Old Oak has the contemplative melancholy of a late work and delivers a familiar message of unity, it is gentler and more reflective than Loach's previous films, with variable performances and some didactic elements. They single out the focus on the divided village and the tentative path to unity as a strength, though acknowledging the message as overly simplistic. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/ken-loach/the-old-oak-review) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-old-oak.md