Sorry We Missed You

{{Infobox film

| name = Sorry We Missed You

| image = Sorry We Missed You.jpg

| caption = Film poster

| director = Ken Loach

| producer = Rebecca O'Brien

| writer = Paul Laverty

| starring = {{plain list|

Kris Hitchen
Debbie Honeywood
Rhys Stone
Katie Proctor

}}

| music = George Fenton

| cinematography = Robbie Ryan

| editing = Jonathan Morris

| studio = {{Plainlist|

Sixteen Films
BBC Films
BE TV
BFI Film Fund
Canal+
Ciné+
France 2 Cinéma
France Télévisions
Les Films du Fleuve
VOO
Why Not Productions
Wild Bunch

}}

| distributor = {{Plainlist|

Le Pacte (France)
Cinéart (Belgium)
Entertainment One (United Kingdom)

}}

| released = {{film date|df=yes|2019|5|16|Cannes|2019|10|23|France|2019|10|30|Belgium|2019|11|1|United Kingdom}}

| runtime = 100 minutes

| country = {{plain list|

United Kingdom
France
Belgium

}}

| language = English

| budget =

| gross = £6.3 million

}}

Sorry We Missed You is a 2019 drama film written by Paul Laverty and directed by Ken Loach.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2018/09/ken-loach-sorry-we-missed-you-newcastle-1202462175/|title=Ken Loach Begins Shoot On Drama 'Sorry We Missed You', eOne To Release in UK|first=Andreas|last=Wiseman|date=11 September 2018|website=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=12 September 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://www.screendaily.com/news/-ken-loachs-sorry-we-missed-you-begins-shoot-eone-to-release-in-uk/5132561.article|title=Ken Loach's 'Sorry We Missed You' begins shoot, eOne to release in UK|website=screendaily.com|access-date=12 September 2018}}

Plot

Ricky Turner and his family have been fighting an uphill struggle against debt since the 2008 financial crash.

With no education or professional training, Ricky is given an opportunity when he is hired to run a franchise as a self-employed delivery driver under the supervision of Maloney, a tough, no-nonsense employer. In order to afford a van for the job, Ricky convinces his wife Abby to sell the family car, even though she uses it in her work as a home care nurse.

The stress of the new job proves to be too great for Ricky. He is always under pressure to make his deliveries in time and is fined if he is late or makes mistakes. Abby also finds her work much more demanding without a car and frequently feels upset by the lack of time she is allowed to spend with her patients due to her demanding schedule.

During this period, Ricky's rebellious son Seb skips school and often gets into trouble with his use of graffiti. Following a fight with his parents, Seb angrily tags over the family portraits during the night. When Ricky can't find the keys to his van the next morning, he blames Seb. Though Seb denies any wrongdoing, Ricky hits him at the end of a heated argument. Liza Jane, Seb's younger sister, later tearfully admits that she hid the keys as she blames Ricky's job for the family's problems.

Back at work, Ricky is robbed and brutally assaulted while making deliveries. While Ricky is in the waiting room at hospital, Maloney phones him and explains that he is facing fines of over £1,000 as his barcode scanner was destroyed in the assault. While Seb finally warms up and re-joins the family, a desperate and grievously injured Ricky drives off to work in tears as his family begs him to not leave.

Cast

Kris Hitchen as Ricky Turner
Debbie Honeywood as Abby Turner
Rhys Stone as Seb Turner
Katie Proctor as Liza Jane Turner
Ross Brewster as Maloney
Charlie Richmond as Henry
Julian Ions as Freddie
Sheila Dunkerley as Rosie
Maxie Peters as Robert
Christopher John Slater as Ben
Heather Wood as Mollie
Alberto Dumba as Harpoon
Natalia Stonebanks as Roz
Jordan Collard as Dodge
Dave Turner as Magpie
Stephen Clegg as Policeman
Darren Jones as Council worker
Nikki Marshall as Traffic warden
Linda E Greenwood as Driver
Linda Wright as A&E receptionist
Mary Shearer as Woman at Door

Production

Principal photography began in Newcastle upon Tyne and the surrounding areas in September 2018.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2018/film/news/entertainment-one-distribute-ken-loachs-sorry-we-missed-you-u-k-1202936416/|title=New Ken Loach Film, 'Sorry We Missed You,' Picked Up by eOne for U.K.|first=Robert|last=Mitchell|date=11 September 2018|work=Variet|access-date=12 September 2018}}

Release

The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/apr/18/cannes-festival-2019-full-list-of-films |title=Cannes festival 2019: full list of films |work=The Guardian |access-date=18 April 2019}} Despite having a broken arm in a sling, the 82-year-old Loach appeared at Cannes to promote the film and announce that it would be his final film to compete at the festival.Sight and Sound, Volume 29 (Issue 7), July 2019, page 25 At the 10th Magritte Awards, Sorry We Missed You received the Magritte Award for Best Foreign Film in Coproduction.{{cite news |last1=Dricot |first1=Lucy |title=Découvrez le palmarès complet de la 10e cérémonie des Magritte du cinéma|url=https://www.rtbf.be/culture/cinema/dossier/les-magritte-du-cinema/detail_decouvrez-le-palmares-complet-de-la-10e-ceremonie-des-magritte-du-cinema?id=10421839 |access-date=1 February 2020 |publisher=RTBF |date=1 February 2020|language=fr}} At the 13th Gaudí Awards, it won the Gaudí Award for Best European Film.{{Cite web|url=https://www.fotogramas.es/noticias-cine/a35898801/premios-gaudi-2021-ganadores/|website=Fotogramas|date=22 March 2021|first=Juan|last=Silvestre|title=Premios Gaudí 2021: todos los ganadores}}

Reception

=Box office=

The film grossed £6.3 million.{{Cite web |url= https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3787096577/weekend/ |title=Sorry We Missed You |publisher=Box Office Mojo. IMDb |access-date=13 March 2020}}{{Cite web |url= https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Sorry-We-Missed-You-(UK)-(2019)#tab=summary |title=Sorry We Missed You |publisher=The Numbers. IMDb |access-date=13 March 2020}}

=Critical reception=

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of {{RT data|score}} based on {{RT data|count}} reviews, with an average rating of {{RT data|average}}. The site's critical consensus reads "Sorry We Missed You may strike some as tending toward the righteously didactic, but director Ken Loach's passionate approach remains effective."{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sorry_we_missed_you|title=Sorry We Missed You (2019)|website=Rotten Tomatoes|publisher=Fandango|access-date={{RT data|access date|df=dmy}}}} Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 82 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/sorry-we-missed-you|title=Sorry We Missed You Reviews|website=Metacritic|publisher=CBS Interactive|access-date=14 March 2020}}

David Rooney in The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film "is an expertly judged and profoundly humane movie, made without frills or fuss but startlingly direct in its emotional depiction of the tough stuff that is the fiber of so many ordinary lives."{{cite news|last=Rooney|first=David|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/sorry-we-missed-you-cannes-2019-1211221|title='Sorry We Missed You': Film Review (Cannes 2019)|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=16 May 2019|access-date=17 May 2019}}

Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian believed it was superior to Loach's previous film I, Daniel Blake (2016), which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes.{{cite news|last=Bradshaw|first=Peter|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/may/16/sorry-we-missed-you-review-ken-loach|title=Sorry We Missed You review – Ken Loach's superb swipe at zero-hours Britain|work=The Guardian|date=16 May 2019|access-date=17 May 2019}}{{cite news|last=Gleiberman|first=Owen|url=https://variety.com/2019/film/reviews/sorry-we-missed-you-review-ken-loach-1203217397/|title=Cannes Film Review: Ken Loach's 'Sorry We Missed You'|work=Variety|date=16 May 2019|access-date=17 May 2019}} Bradshaw wrote: "it is more dramatically varied and digested, with more light and shade in its narrative progress and more for the cast to do collectively. I was hit in the solar plexus by this movie, wiped out by the simple honesty and integrity of the performances." The review in The Times praised the performance of newcomer Debbie Honeywood as Abby, who was cast after a talent search of non-professionals. Contributor Kevin Maher believed the film should have concentrated on her character instead of Ricky, Abby's husband.{{cite news|last=Maher|first=Kevin|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/review-sorry-we-missed-you-at-the-cannes-film-festival-h7hn8brcz|title=Review: Sorry We Missed You at the Cannes Film Festival|work=The Times|date=17 May 2019|access-date=17 May 2019}} {{subscription required}}

Geoffrey Macnab wrote in The Independent that Loach's film "captures brilliantly the alienation and existential anguish that its main characters feel. There is nothing they can do to help themselves. The more they fight to change their circumstances, the worse those circumstances become."{{cite news|last=Macnab|first=Geoffrey|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/sorry-we-missed-you-cannes-film-festival-review-ken-loach-drama-a8917766.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/sorry-we-missed-you-cannes-film-festival-review-ken-loach-drama-a8917766.html |archive-date=24 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Sorry We Missed You, Cannes 2019, review: Ken Loach makes everyday problems seem the stuff of epic drama|work=The Independent|date=17 May 2019|access-date=17 May 2019}} Macnab commented that Loach and his screenwriter Laverty "pursue their story to its logical conclusion, ending the film in a way that is both ingenious and devastating."

Owen Gleiberman of Variety writes: "Loach stages all of this with supreme confidence and flow" leading to "a fraught, touching, and galvanizing movie." Raphael Abrahams, in his review for the Financial Times, states: "In the end credits he [Loach] gives thanks to those drivers whose testimony informed the film but who wished to remain anonymous. He is their much-needed voice and remains that of our moral conscience."{{cite news|last=Abrahams|first=Raphael|url=https://www.ft.com/content/1ba039f0-7893-11e9-be7d-6d846537acab|title=Cannes: Ken Loach's Sorry We Missed You — a piercing drama about a zero-hours-contract driver|work=Financial Times|date=17 May 2019|access-date=17 May 2019}}

Trevor Johnston of British film publication Sight & Sound wrote "While Sorry We Missed You may not be as sentimentally affecting as I, Daniel Blake, it delivers a more nuanced, troubling and provocative state-of-the-nation address. As such, it’s surely among Loach and Laverty’s most sinewy efforts."{{cite news|last=Johnston|first=Trevor|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/reviews-recommendations/sorry-we-missed-you-ken-loach-gig-economy-paul-laverty|title=Sorry We Missed You review: Ken Loach counts the cost of striving in austerity Britain|work=Sight & Sound|date=31 October 2019|access-date=11 November 2019}}