Next time you buy a Star Wars toy online, spare a thought for the delivery driver bringing it to your door…

Sorry We Missed You tells the tale of a young English family in financial difficulty in Newcastle. The Dad, Ricky has been a knockabout labourer his whole life and along with his wife Abby, an in-home carer, were about to buy their first home when the GFC hit hard, forcing Ricky out of his job, halting their prospect of a mortgage.

A mate suggests he invest in a courier franchise, so Ricky buys a van and starts to deliver parcels, working 14 hours a day in a an effort to pay off his debts and put food on the table. Their teenage son Seb prefers graffiti to school, while daughter Liza tries to keep everybody intact, but things spiral from bad to worse for the whole family with each passing week.

Unlike say Christopher Nolan or Stephen Spielberg, British film director Ken Loach may not be an instantly recognisable name to many filmgoers, but he’s been making films since 1967, with The Wind That Shakes The Barley and I, Daniel Blake two of his most memorable titles of the last 15 years, with both movies taking out the top prize at the Cannes film festival.

Sorry We Missed You continues Loach’s themes of social injustice and the inequalities in our capitalist system, but unlike the fighting spirit of Daniel Blake, there’s little hope for Ricky and his family.

“Grim & Grimmer” 3 & ½ Stars