Directed by: Ken Loach
Distributed by: Kino Lorber
Written by Jeff Sparks
75/100
In what he considers to be his final film, my introduction to Ken Loach is “The Old Oak,” which sees a cast of largely unprofessional actors star in a movie in North East England in 2016. One of our two leads is TJ (Dave Turner), a local pub owner and friend of the community that he resides in. His business is barely hanging on, and his village isn’t doing any better. Since the mines were closed, many families have been struggling to get by. As corporations begin to buy up the increasingly vacant land, the community seems to be on its last leg when a busload of Syrian refugees arrive, moving into some of the newly vacant homes. Many of the townsfolk are unwelcoming to the foreigners except TJ, who is befriended by a young woman named Yara (Ebla Mari) after he helps her repair her beloved camera that was damaged in a scuffle with some locals upon her arrival in town. Many of his friends and customers frown upon his new friendship, but TJ begins to get to know Yara and her people.
The unvarnished script makes for two lead performances that are wonderfully natural and authentic. Previously a high school drama teacher, newcomer Ebla Mari shines in each of her scenes. As one of the few English speakers from her group, Yara frequently acts as a liaison between the Syrian families and the locals. Out of all the motivated characters we see on both sides, she is the one who comes off as the most genuine. She’s always carrying a camera given to her by her father. She doesn’t know if he’s alive or dead since they were separated during a militia raid back in Syria. After seeing her hometown turned into a warzone, she takes it upon herself to unite the neighborhood by organizing a weekly food giveaway for struggling families. She uses her camera to document the community’s interactions along the way. As optimistic as she seems, Yara understands her hopeful outlook on society is a long shot. In one of my favorite scenes of the year, Yara reveals her true feelings on the state of the world around her. “When they torture, when they target hospitals, when they murder doctors, when they use chlorine gas, when the world stands by and does nothing, that’s when the regime lives.” As dire as her words sound, she concludes her thoughts by saying, “But if I stop hoping, my heart will stop beating.” Mari’s candidness in this scene cements her character’s story as the film’s emotional backbone. As much tribulation as we see TJ go through, it’s Yara’s unfaltering resilience and determination that persists through her journey from a warzone to an alienating land that forms the heart and soul of “The Old Oak.”
A single line of dialogue early on sums up the entire film for me. “My name is Yara, what’s yours?” Mari’s character asks TJ after she approaches him not long after arriving in town. It’s the Syrian characters who are trying to connect with the people of this town, but most of the locals are not receptive to their arrival. Throughout the film, Yara gets to know TJ and the others in an attempt to understand these people and their history. As TJ gets to know her, it’s apparent that while they come from wildly different backgrounds, they share universal aspects of life. Raw and emotionally compelling, it’s a shock to me that Ebla Mari didn’t win the Best Actress prize at Cannes when this premiered in 2023. She gets my vote for the best new actor we have seen in a while. Through loss, tension, and understanding, her role is quietly devastating and inspiringly hopeful in a film about individuals uniting in a world that doesn’t want us to.
“The Old Oak” Trailer
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